The Rune Knight
by Darkbeast42
Summary: After being separated from his parents and sister Naruto, the son of a wizard saint and Erza's younger brother, tries to find his place in the world and winds up as an elite rune knight. Can he stop the incoming darkness with his friends and a little help from his sister's guild. Not NarutoXErza
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Naruto, Fairy Tail, or any manga/anime. If I did then I wouldn't be on this website now would I?**

I've decided to write this as a side project while I focus on Fox tail. I'm having a hard time writing the next chp for FT so I decided to make this as a distraction though I do plan on finishing both stories. I have narrowed down the pairing for this between two people who I will name in the author note at the bottom. As always constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged.

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**Chapter 1: The day things changed**

It was a peaceful morning in Rosemary village. A quiet murmur could be heard in the streets as people began their day. Despite the early hour everyone in the streets looked happy and everything was peaceful.

In an average sized two-story house a young blond boy about eight years old was sleeping the morning away peacefully in his bed. The boy was so wrapped up in his dreams of ramen that he was unaware of the small figure standing next to his bed.

"Get up." The figure demanded in a feminine voice which held all the authority in the world.

No response.

"Naruto, I told you to get up." The figure stated before pushing the boy, now named Naruto, off his bed with a shove from her right boot. Naruto ungracefully fell to the floor with a thud. He laid there for a moment, disoriented after his wakeup call, but soon realized what had happened and sprung to his feet in indignation.

"What was that for Erza?!" Naruto asked in a loud voice.

"Oh good your up." Erza said ignoring her younger brother. "Mom's making breakfast so I decided it was time for you to wake up. Get showered and come down stairs." The young girl commanded as she turned and left the room.

"She's even bossier than mom." Naruto muttered under his breath and went to the bathroom to get showered up. When he was done he quickly got dressed in long tan pants and a white t-shirt. Once he was ready Naruto left the bathroom and made his way down stairs where he knew his mother and sister would be.

Upon entering the kitchen Naruto was met with the combined glare of his mother and elder sister by three years. Naruto was afraid of both girls separately so he was unable to hold back the cold sweat that came from being under their joint glare. Naruto's eyes shifted nervously from his mother, Kushina Namikaze, to his sister, Erza Namikaze.

The two women were so much alike it wasn't even funny. In fact the mother-daughter combo made just about everyone fear for their lives. Erza had inherited her mother's long red hair and the temper that came with it. While their facial structure was slightly different and Erza inherited the brown eyes of a distant relative, nobody had any doubts that the two were mother and daughter. The town had dubbed the two 'The crimson terrors' some time ago.

Naruto, on the other hand, took after his father. Naruto and his dad, Minato, both had the same blond hair, blue eyes, and completely rational fear of girls with red hair.

The strange thing about the Namikaze family though was that despite the children clearly taking after one parent or the other physically the children's personalities were more like the parent they didn't resemble, not including Erza's temper. Naruto was laid back like Kushina while Erza was serious like Minato.

Back in the kitchen Naruto was about to ask if anything was wrong but Erza beat him to it. "You're late." She stated, not once losing her glare, "breakfast was ready seven minutes ago but you kept us waiting."

"Why didn't you begin eating without me?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Because Erza wouldn't let me." Kushina muttered under her breath.

"Because it would be rude to eat without everyone present." Answered Erza not hearing what her mother had said. "Now sit down so we can eat."

Breakfast proceeded the same way it did everyday with small talk going back and forth between the three.

"When is dad getting back?" Naruto inquired.

"He should be getting back tomorrow but he told me that their was a chance he could be delayed." Answered his mother.

Naruto let out a soft sigh. It had been a couple of weeks since the man of the house had been home but it felt like months to Naruto.

"Don't worry he'll be back soon. The wizard saint meeting should be over by tonight and he will come straight home in the morning." Kushina said in an attempt to reassure her son.

Deciding to change the subject, Erza turned her attention to her younger brother. "Naruto, when your done eating get ready to leave." Erza commanded.

"What? why?" Asked Naruto.

"We're meeting Simon and Kagura in the park today or did you forget?" The young red-head explained. Naruto thought back to yesterday when they last saw the two and vaguely remembered such an agreement.

"Oh that. I remember it... kinda." Naruto admitted.

Erza buried her face in her hand and let out a quiet groan. "Sometimes I wonder how you remember your own name."

"Hey! I'm not that bad. Am I mom?" Naruto asked turning to the women who had been silently laughing at her children's exchange.

"I don't know Naruto. You can be pretty forgetful." She said with a smile.

"Ha! Now get ready we only have five minutes to leave before we're late." Erza told Naruto with a cocky smirk.

Naruto didn't answer as he shoved the last bit of food in his mouth and made his way over to his shoes. Once he was ready he shouted a goodbye to his mother and walked out of the house side by side with his sister.

As the duo walked towards their favorite park in town they began making small talk. "Do you think Dad will finally teach me some magic when he gets back?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"He already told us he wouldn't start teaching us until we're at least twelve. I don't understand why you keep asking." Erza responded.

"But I could totally master Dad's rasen magic if he would just teach me." Naruto whined.

"Don't be so cocky. It took Dad a decade to create and master that magic despite his talent." The girl scolded.

"Exactly. If I can master his magic faster than he did than it means I can surpass him right?" Naruto asked with a big grin.

Erza frowned slightly. "Naruto, you do know that Dad isn't great just because he's skilled with magic right? He's kind and puts others before himself. Don't go around thinking strength in magic is everything."

Naruto gained a sad look. "I know that." He mumbled. After a few more steps in silence Naruto decided to ask the question on his mind. "Do you think I can surpass him?" He asked quietly and avoided his sister's gaze. When the silence became too much for him he looked back up towards Erza and found a warm smile.

"I know you can." she said with nothing but confidence. Upon seeing Naruto's own smile she jogged a few steps ahead and turned around. "Come on I'll race you to the park." She declared and took off. Naruto's smile grew wider as he gave chase.

The race ended with Erza winning by a land slide. Naruto was panting on his back under the shade of a tree while Erza stood next to him seemingly unaffected by the race. Both children were waiting patiently for their friends to arrive. Five minutes had passed before Simon and his little sister had finally arrived.

"Sorry we're late!" A young boy called out as he jogged towards the Namikaze siblings. Naruto and Erza turned to their left where they found their friend Simon heading towards them flanked by his little sister Kagura.

Simon Mikazuchi was a few months older than Erza and three inches taller. Simon was large for his age and it was clear he would be a very big adult. He had broad shoulders and muscle could be seen forming on his arms. His eyes were black and his hair was a dark brown. Simon was a pretty laid back guy and took his role of big brother as seriously as Erza took her role of big sister. Naruto happened to be aware that Simon held a big crush for his sister, who was completely oblivious about his feelings.

Kagura Mikazuchi was a small seven year old girl with brown eyes and black hair cut in the princess style. People often said she would be a beauty when she becomes a women. She was a very happy child who looked up to and adored her big brother. The two siblings were very close and rarely apart.

Erza and Simon have been friends since they met in the school-house at the outskirts of town years ago. Eventually Naruto and Kagura tagged along when they hung out together which led to the four of them playing together very often.

When the Mikazuchi siblings finally got to the Namikazes they were a little out of breath. "We would've been here sooner but I overslept by accident." Simon explained while scratching the back of his head.

Erza looked at him for a second and turned towards Kagura. "It appears we both have lazy brothers who prefer sleep over being on time." Erza spoke in a serious tone. "From now on whenever Simon refuses to wake up you have my permission to throw ice-cold water on him. Ok?" Kagura smiled and nodded happily to the red-head. Simon, in the meantime, was crying anime tears at being called lazy by his crush while Naruto patted his back in sympathy.

After the initial greetings were over the four kids sat in a circle and discussed what they would do for the day.

"How about tag?" Naruto suggested.

"Wanna climb a tree?" Simon suggested.

"I wanna play house." Chirped in Kagura

"We are playing hide and seek." Erza declared.

Naruto and Simon broke out in a cold sweat. Playing hide and seek with Erza was never fun. Erza was many things but being subtle was not one of them. She aways chose obvious hiding places and was found right away. After losing she would go on a tangent on how she must better herself at the game and demand a rematch. However both boys knew there was nothing they could do to persuade Erza into playing something else, so they chose to keep their mouths shut. Kagura on the other hand let out a groan, "But we play that all the time." She complained.

Erza gained a determined look in her eye before she replied, "Let's just play it one more time I think I can win this time. You three hide I'll be it first."

Knowing the discussion was over Naruto and the Mikazuchis went off in separate directions in search of a good hiding place.

Due to the lack of hiding places in the park Naruto took to the streets and headed towards the town square. The rules were that they could hide anywhere in town as long as it wasn't inside a home or store. Upon reaching the town square Naruto sought out his favorite bench and flopped down on it. He wasn't too concerned about being found as he wasn't interested in winning. Naruto decided to close his eyes and catch up on the sleep his red-headed sister so rudely interrupted.

A few minutes passed and Naruto was peacefully asleep until the low murmur in the streets was interrupted by the sound of many thundering footsteps. Opening his eyes Naruto looked down the street and was met with the sight of a small army marching towards the town square. The men wore black robes and had smooth masks over their face with a strange symbol painted on them. Each person held some weapon or another with the most common being a gun or spear. The men were leading strange featureless creature behind them as they marched.

The citizens in the streets were whispering amongst themselves and kept glancing at the strange men with fearful looks. Naruto felt the desire to get away but he wanted to know what was going on so he stood on the bench to get a better look at the men since a crowed was begging to form around them.

When they got to the center of the square a man got up on one of the creatures and cleared his throat. "Attention citizens of this backwater village! We the disciples of Zeref are giving you a once in a lifetime opportunity. Come with us and aid in the revival of the greatest mage known to man." The man announced with a sick grin.

The whispers and murmurs increased at the name Zeref. Naruto was vaguely aware of the name, he was supposed to be some big dark mage from a long time ago.

"Why would we go with you?" One man shouted out.

"You can come with us or we can take you, but we'd prefer keeping our resources unharmed." The man answered.

"Resources?" A middle-aged women questioned.

"Oh yes. You should be honored to serve as lord Zeref's sacrifices." The crowd's reaction was half fearful and half angry.

"What makes you think we're just going to lay down and surrender?" A youth shouted out.

"So you won't come peacefully?" The man asked almost disappointed.

"Of course not!" One guy shouted.

"Like Hell we would!" Exclaimed another.

The mans face contorted into a bloodthirsty grin. "That's too bad." Once those words left his mouth. The man raised his spear above his head and shot a small beam of light into the air. "Round them up! Don't let a single one escape!" The men around them all gave out a battle cry and shot into the crowd with their magic guns.

As Naruto turned and ran he heard many explosions go off around the town but payed them no heed. 'I've gotta find Erza and mom.' Was the only thought in his mind as he ran through town.

**With Erza a few minutes earlier**

Erza was strolling down the paved roads in town in her search for Naruto and Kagura. Erza had found Simon pretty quickly up in a tree at the park. 'I guess he really wanted to climb that tree Erza thought to herself.' Simon kept in step behind his red-headed crush as he tried to make conversation.

"What do you think I should get Kagura for her birthday?" Simon asked.

"You're her brother shouldn't you already know?" She asked with a raised eye.

"Yeah but she's a little girl so I thought you might have some good ideas." He explained.

"I'm sure she'll love anything you get her." Erza said simply.

Simon was about to start another conversation but was interrupted when a high-pitched scream pierced the silence. The two eleven-year olds snapped their heads in the direction of the town square and saw some black smoke rising into the air. Explosions were heard near the outskirts of the village. People around them were running around in a blind panic.

"What's going on?!" Simon shouted over the noise.

"I don't know but I need to find Naruto!" Erza screamed out. She was about to run off but stopped when Simon grabbed her wrist.

"I saw him going towards the town square if you go after him you'll be caught up in whatever's going on!" He yelled out, desperately trying to keep her out of danger.

Erza didn't have time to argue so she twisted her wrist out of his grasp and grabbed his wrist instead. She turned to face him and used her grip to pull him in before slamming her fist square in his face. Simon fell on his but with a thud and looked up at Erza shocked.

"HE'S MY BROTHER!" She screamed with tears in her eyes before running off. Simon remained seated just watching her retreating figure before getting up to look for Kagura.

**With Kushina**

Kushina was enjoying the peace and quiet that followed her children's departure at home. Unlike most days, when she would be dusting or vacuuming the house, she was resting on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table. In her hands was the latest copy of Sorcerer Weekly. As she flipped through the pages she couldn't help but compare the featured mages to herself back in younger days. Kushina was once a very respected and feared mage. But after she gave birth to Erza she decided to become a stay at home mom so as to not miss a moment of her children's childhood. She might go back to being a wizard eventually but that day was still a few years off.

When Kushina finished the magazine she quietly set it down and reached for a different magazine about a multitude of cooking recipes but froze when the sound of people's screams met her ears.

Kushina quickly stood at full alert. Knowing something bad was going down in town, Kushina let her maternal instincts kick in and flew out the door in search of her children, subconsciously taping into her magic power.

**Omake-1: Tomato girl**

"Do I have to go to school?" A young Erza asked as she and her family approached an old brick school-house.

"Come on Erza don't you want to learn how to read and write?" A tall blond man asked with a smile.

"No." Erza told him with a pout.

"You'll make lots of friends." Kushina chimed in.

Erza perked up at that. "Really?" She asked.

"Oh yes I bet you'll be especially popular with the boys later on. Right Minato?" She teased her husband.

Erza seemed confused about the last thing her mother said while her father, now identified as Minato, was barely holding back his anger. "Erza if any of the boys ever start asking you to do things for them let me know ok." Minato told his daughter with a forced smile.

Erza was even more confused at her fathers sudden seriousness but gave him a hesitant nod. Minato still seemed irritated but Kushina was barely holding back her laughter while a three-year old Naruto giggled in response to his mother.

Inside the class room parents were saying goodby to the children who were about to start their first year of school. "Bye Dad. Bye Mom. Bye Naruto." Erza told them before she ran off to join the other kids. Minato and Kushina decided to stay and watch their eldest child interact with her class mates.

"Hey can I join you guys." Erza asked as she approached a group of four boys.

"No way you're a girl." One boy said.

"Yeah and look at her hair she looks like a tomato." Another boy mocked.

"Go away you tomato girl." And with that the four boys broke out in laughter.

Erza looked sad for a moment before she became irritated. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TOMATO GIRL?!" Erza screamed and began pummeling the boys into the floor.

Across the room two adults had very different reactions to Erza's outburst. "Ah to be young again." Kushina sighed as she wiped away a tear of pride.

"She really is your daughter." Minato deadpanned with a sweat drop while Naruto watched his sister in awe.

Erza felt a set of eyes watching her so she quickly turned to face a big kid behind her. "You think I look like a tomato too don't you." Erza said with anger in her eyes.

"Y-yes" The boy stammered out in fear. Erza raised her fist to deck him before the boy raised his hands in front of his face for defense and yelled out. "But I like tomatoes."

Erza stopped her punch and studied the boy. She gave a quick nod, "Okay we're friends now." Erza stated before sitting down at an empty desk.

"Um okay." He said before sitting in a seat next to her. "I'm Simon."

"Erza."

"Look at that Minato she really did make a friend." Kushina cooed.

A dark aura radiated from Minato scarring all the adults in the room. Minato opened his hand and a blue sphere of pure ethernano formed in his palm. "He better not try anything."

Kushina swatted him on the shoulder. "Minato they're six. What do you think he's up to? That he's manipulating Erza for something he's not even old enough to understand himself?"

"I wouldn't put it past him." Minato growled while his wife face palmed.

"Hey Erza can you let me borrow your pencil?" Simon asked.

Erza was about to respond when she remembered the promise she made to her father. She looked around and saw that her parents were about to leave. "Hey Dad, Simon is asking me for something." Erza shouted to her dad.

Kushina had to restrain Minato when he tried to lunge at the poor boy.

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**Author notes**

Sorry if you guys wanted me to focus on Foxtail but the fight scene I'm writing might be a bit too ambitious for me. I don't feel like I'm writing it as well as it should be written and I'm dead set against just uploading it without getting it up to par. In other words I now understand how difficult it really is to write these things. I'll try to get the next chapter of foxtail out sometime soon and the good news is that I have spring break soon.

Now I'll get into the possible pairings.

**NarutoXLucy**

This was the pairing I was planning on when I started this story. I have a good magic planned for her in addition to her gate keys. I rarely see this pairing and I don't understand why they seem like a good pair.

**NarutoXHisui** (princess of Fiore)

While I was writing this chapter I realized that since Naruto would join the rune knights, (spoiler if the title didn't already give it away) i could easily have this for the pairing. Classic knight and princess story. These were so overdone people stopped doing them now they're underdone. Hisui was barely around in the manga so to me she's a blank canvas. I don't want to do a pairing just because it's underdone but if they do get together Naruto could wind up the King.

I briefly considered Kagura for the pairing but decided against it.

I also need to decide what magic I'll give Naruto I have a few ideas but it seems like whenever I decide on one and begin to think up fight scenarios it becomes overpowered or underpowered.

on a side note I also had a hard time deciding on what age to make them. Timelines are difficult.

I guess that's all so later.


	2. Chapter 2

**Do you guys even think there's a possibility that I own anything because I don't. Seriously are these disclaimers really necessary.**

I am shocked at how popular this story has become at least when compared to Foxtail. At the time I'm writing this I have 21 reviews 21 favs and 33 followers. That's way more than I expected since foxtail only got like 8 reviews 6 of them pointing out my misspelling of Omake. But to be fair I didn't proof read the first chp of FT. I should probably fix that.

Anyways I would like to thank everyone who gave me ideas for Naruto's magic they were all very enjoyable to read and I might use some of them when I introduce new characters but I'm going to use my own original magic. I just hope it doesn't seem to similar to pre-existing magic.

I've also decided to make Hisui the pairing since she's going to play a major role anyways and because she kicked the crap out of Lucy in the reviews. Sorry if you wanted a NarutoXLucy pairing but I think Hisui will work better here. On the bright side I have thought up a NarutoXLucy story I hope to get around to eventually. I still have like 20 plot lines in my head for this website.

**Guest: **In order of your questions Erza became S class at 15 so she probably joined when she was around 13. That means she is roughly two years away from joining. Traumatic yes. Memory loss no. As for his magic you'll have to find out next chapter. Hopefully I'll get to the part he learns magic by then.

**Mzr90: **Curses, grammar my one weakness... besides spelling.

**GuestWithIdeas:** Oh I read that story but I thought it was a harem since Lisana also liked him. And yes that is the general idea of rasen magic. I might have Naruto learn something similar to the rasengan but I don't think I'll have him learn every spell his father made. Many other Naruto characters will be making appearances in a variety of roles some important some not so much but expect to see quite a few.

**Iskanderzero:** I'm calling it rasen magic because every variation of rasengan has rasen somewhere in it. Stupid reason? Maybe but I think it sounds good. Though I will admit that spiral magic has a nice ring to it.

**DarkbladeNaruto:** I think there was one called the phenomenon but the author didn't make it past the first two chapters.

**Karlsson:** thanks I'm quite proud of that omake.

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**Chapter 2: End of an old life**

Rosemary village was a war zone. Once the invaders had begun their attack in the center of town more dark mages appeared outside the village and begun their own attack preventing anyone from fleeing. The followers of Zeref were ruthless with the villagers and showed no mercy whether they be man, women, or child. Most people were frantically searching for friends or relatives and met with little success. If someone tried to fight back they were killed, everyone else was grabbed and restrained. To the dark mages the villagers were nothing.

Naruto was running around in the middle of the chaos hoping to find his sister or mother. He had avoided the dark mages by hiding behind houses and darting in and out of alleyways. He was quick and small so his hide and run tactic was working very well for him. Unfortunately it was only a matter of time until he was caught.

"Hey I found one." A voice said behind Naruto.

The young blond sprinted away from the voice but as he passed an alleyway a foot stuck out and tripped him. Naruto landed face first into the ground and heard some laughter behind him. "Nice one." Spoke the voice from earlier.

"Thanks the way he was running was just asking for it."

Naruto quickly rolled on his back to see the two men that were after him. The one that had tripped him was tall and skinny while the other guy was of average height but over weight. The dark grins worn by the men were enough to fill Naruto with fear. He may not have known who these guys were or what they wanted but Naruto knew he had to get away. The followers of Zeref only laughed when Naruto began to scramble backwards. Just when he was about to get up and run one of the dark mages kicked him in the side harshly.

"Look at him running away! What a pathetic kid!" The fat one laughed out.

Naruto turned around as the skinny guy began moving forward with a small length of rope. The young blond tried to get up and run but the man who was about to restrain him roughly grabbed the kid's wrist. Naruto was desperately trying to get free from the man but the grip was too strong. The laughter of the other man rose in volume at Naruto's struggle but suddenly stopped.

The abrupt end of laughter was enough to make the tall guy let go of Naruto and turn around. Naruto stumble back a few feet and looked at the place the laughing man once stood.

The large man was now lying in a growing pool of blood while his head rolled around a few feet away. Standing above the dead man was a tall slender figure grasping a katana. It was a women with long red hair and eyes filled with rage. Naruto gasped when he realized who it was "Get away from my son." The voice of Kushina Namikaze growled out.

The man gawked at the red-head for a second before gritting his teeth and drawing a knife strapped to his waist. "You bitch!" The man shouted and charged the house wife. Naruto watched with wide eyes as the man's head was disconnected from his shoulders by Kushina. The man fell to the ground with a thump while Kushina shook the blood off her blade. A second later the sword used to kill the men was enveloped in a gold light and vanished from sight.

Kushina turned to the boy who had begun trembling from what he witnessed. Her eyes softened and she quickly sprinted to where Naruto sat. When she reached him, Naruto was pulled into her embrace as she spoke soothing words to him. The boy broke down in tears from all the emotional stress he had experienced up until now. "It's okay it's okay." Kushina comforted before pulling away to look Naruto in the eyes. "I need you to tell me where Erza is." She spoke slowly and steadily.

The young boy tried to stop crying so that he could respond but was unable to lose his shaky voice. "W-we were playing hide and seek. I don't know where she went."

Kushina cursed silently and took her son's hand. "Come on we need to find your sister." Naruto still looked scared but followed behind his mother when she began to move away. They passed the corpses of the men and Naruto stopped.

"Mom did you...?" He let the question hang in the air.

Kushina, who had paused mid-stride, turned her head to look at the boy and gave him a small smile. "We can talk later for now we have to save Erza." The reminder of his sister was enough to harden Naruto's resolve and the two Namikaze's made their way deeper in town.

**With Erza**

On her way to the town square Erza had to alter her path in order to avoid a group of invaders searching the streets. She ran through an alleyway and ran into someone smaller than her. The smaller child fell down roughly on the street. "Ow" said the soft voice of the person Erza ran into. Looking down, Erza found that the person she had run into was none other than Kagura.

When Kagura saw Erza her eyes filled with hope at seeing her older friend. "Erza! Whats going on? These men showed up and tried to grab me but I ran away. They shouted after me saying they would ki-ki-kill me." She said stuttering on the word kill. Kagura started to tear up again but shook her head and continued. "Why are they here and where's Simon?" She asked in desperation.

Erza was about to respond but paused when she heard some people entering the alleyway. The redhead took the Kagura's hand and ran in the opposite direction of the dark mages. "I don't know but I need to find Naruto have you seen him?"

"No I haven't is he alright?" The younger girl asked in fear.

Erza cursed under her breath. 'I need to find Naruto but I can't endanger Kagura. What am I supposed to do?' Erza silently asked herself.

The two girls ran into someone's backyard when they heard more voices behind them. Erza quickly looked around and let her eyes rest on a wooden box. It was a common object to have since it was used to store fire wood during the winter but it was spring so hopefully it was empty. The eleven year old ran to the box and quickly opened it sighing in relief as her hopes were rewarded. "Hey Kagura! Come here." The little girl looked confused but ran to her friend none the less.

"What is it?" She asked nervously.

Erza's response was to roughly pick up the girl and move her over the box. Kagura squirmed in the elder girls arms for a second but stopped after the surprise of Erza's actions wore of. The small girl was placed gently in the wooden crate and looked towards the redhead for some answers.

"Stay here. I need to find my family and it's too dangerous to bring you." Kagura was about to protest but Erza cut her off. "I'll come back for you later so stay hidden." There was a pause before she continued. "I'm sure your brother is fine." The lid was placed over the box and Erza ran off leaving Kagura in darkness.

**With Naruto**

Naruto's emotions were on a roller coaster ride as he ran down the street with his mother. He was terrified of the dark mages who have razed his home. He felt reassured and safe with his mother's presence. He felt sick and conflicted every time one of the invaders came to close and died by Kushina's katana. And he felt worried and scared for his mother whenever she was hit by a spell or cut with one of the men's weapons.

Kushina, on the other hand, wasn't faring too well. It had been over eleven years and two pregnancies since she had fought with anyone so her skills were beyond rusty. Attacks she could've avoided in her sleep before were finding their mark and she was becoming tired. In addition to her physical troubles her mental state was a mess. Kushina had no idea where Erza was and couldn't shake the possibility she was already dead, Naruto's prying eyes made her hesitate to deliver killing blows. And the images of her slain neighbors,which she had seen on her way to Naruto, were flashing in her head.

The mother son duo arrived in the town square and was appalled at what they saw. Corpses littered the floor. Some belonged to the dark mages but most were those of their friends and neighbors. Naruto felt the urge to vomit and break down in tears but a small part of his brain refused to let him do anything that might lead to his capture. Kushina quickly scanned the faces and felt relief upon seeing that Erza wasn't among them. They were about to leave and search elsewhere when they heard a voice call out to them.

"Mom! Naruto!" Kushina and Naruto were filled with hope and quickly turned around to see a red-headed girl running towards them.

"Erza! Oh thank god!" Kushina said before sprinting towards Erza to envelop her in a hug, dropping her Katana upon reaching her. Naruto jogged up to them, not wanting to be left out.

"Mom I was so scared they got you and Naruto. I was afraid you might've..." Erza began before holding back tears of relief and fear. Kushina just held her daughter and began to do what she could to calm Erza down. The house wife wanted to be strong for her children but couldn't help the tears of relief that fell down her face. Her children were safe and that was all that mattered.

"Sorry to break up this touching moment," a cocky voice called out a few feet away prompting the Namikazes to turn towards the source, "but you'll be coming with me."

The man who had spoken was the man who gave the announcement earlier. He was obviously the leader of the dark mages since his robe seemed to be a better design than the rest. About twenty mages had snuck up on them while they were distracted and surrounded them in a half circle. The only escape for the family was the road they came from but that would mean turning their backs on the dark mages who were wielding guns.

Kushina slowly picked up her sword and pushed her children behind her, shielding them from the threat.

"Looks like you were right captain, we did miss a few." Said a short man to the right of their leader.

"Of course I'm right. Though," he paused and inspected Kushina, "the women will give us too much trouble if we try to capture her. Release the chimera." The man ordered. All the dark mages were eager to see the mauling the red-head would receive. A man to the left of the leader whistled loudly for one of the strange creatures. A second later the call was answered when one of the featureless creatures came into view. It was a deep pink color and only had a mouth. There was no fur and it had two leathery wings folded on it's back.

The children grew fearful but Kushina just tightened her grip on the sword. A second later the monster came charging at them. When it was within reach Kushina swung her sword down and cleaved it in two. The two halves of the chimera fell on either side of her as she retook her stance.

"I need you two to get to safety. I'll hold them off." The mother commanded.

Erza's eyes widened. "But mom you'll..."

"I SAID GO NOW! I won't tell you again." She said with much more authority. "Take care of your brother Erza and don't forget that I love you both." Her voice lost authority as she spoke and became much gentler.

Naruto wanted to stay but Erza grabbed his hand and began running.

The captain of the dark mages let out a growl. "Those brats. Don't let them get away!" All his men were about to charge forward in pursuit of the kids but stopped when an oppressive force could be felt in the air. The men looked towards the ex-mage before them.

"You. Will. Not. Touch my kids." Kushina growled out.

A few men became nervous but the majority were as cocky as ever including the captain. "Oh is that so? Well you are right I won't touch them. Filth like them, who don't see the beauty of what Zeref has to offer, are only worthy of kissing the dirt I step on." Kushina glared at the man who only smirked back. "Alright men, take her out." After the command was given the men aimed their guns at the redhead and fired.

**With Naruto**

"Wait Erza! We can't just leave mom!" Naruto pleaded with his sister as they ran.

"Shut up." She replied not once looking back.

"But we can't just"

"I said shut up!" She shouted and turned so that Naruto could see the tears streaming down her face. "Mom wants us to live. To survive. She told me to protect you so I will. We will make it through this so don't go back there and do something that will get us killed."

Naruto turned to look where his mother was fighting. They were pretty far away from where they had been so it was hard to see, but Naruto could see his mother deflecting magic bullets with her sword so he allowed himself some hope.

Hope that was crushed when Kushina's body jerked backwards as a blast of magic hit her. She continued to jerk backwards as she was continuously shot by the dark mages. When the barrage was over the commander walked over to her body with a sadistic smirk and picked up her sword as Kushina raised up a shaky hand. The last thing Naruto saw as the two children turn a corner was the dark mage thrusting the Katana towards his mother's heart while a golden chain erupted from Kushina's palm towards the man's heart.

The two children continued to run ignoring the tears in their eyes. After they put a large amount of distance between themselves and the town square the children hid in an alleyway to rest. There was a heavy silence between them until Erza spoke up. "C'mon we need to pick up Kagura and get out of here."

Naruto looked depressed but got up and gave Erza an "okay."

As Naruto was about to leave the alleyway he heard something collapse behind him. Naruto turned and saw that Erza was face first on the floor. Naruto looked up and found a dark mage towering above him with a snarl. " Your bitch of a mother killed my captain." He growled before knocking Naruto out with a punch.

**Four hours later**

Naruto slowly awakened from his slumber to the sounds of many groans. Everything was blurry to Naruto and he had a hard time moving. It felt cramped, hot, and generally uncomfortable. After a few minutes Naruto was able to orientate himself with his surroundings.

He was in a large wooden cage with many other people he recognized from Rosemary. The cage was on wheels and pulled by a magic-mobile. There was a dark curtain over the cage to block people's view inside and outside. Everyone had their feet tied together with their arms tied behind their back to top it off everyone was gaged so there was no communication between the prisoners.

As Naruto's mind cleared he remembered the events of the day and was unable to hold back his tears. Before he knew it he had cried himself to sleep.

When he had awoken again Naruto looked around for someone he knew. Everyone here was from Rosemary but he didn't particularly know any of them. He was sure Erza had been captured too which meant she was either in another cart or gone.

Naruto didn't let himself believe he had lost his sister too so he resolved to find his sister as soon as they got out of the cages. The young blond didn't have anything to do but sit and listen to his captors talk.

"I can't believe that crazy women took out thirty of our men."

"I know right it was a good thing she was so sentimental. If she wasn't trying to protect those snot nosed brats she probably could've taken out a lot more of us."

"It was too bad we couldn't capture her a strong women like that could've been very useful."

"Do you wanna try to be the one to lock her up."

"Ha a women like that would probably kill me on the first day."

"Exactly so just be grateful the captain gave his life to finish her off."

Naruto carefully listened to the conversation and realized something. It was his fault his mother had died. If she wasn't protecting him she could've easily escaped with Erza. It was his fault he no longer had a mother.

It was another hour before the slave caravan stopped. Everyone was forced out of their prisons and into the cold night-time air. Looking around Naruto saw Erza and Simon walk out of one of the prisons together their feet had been unbound so that they could walk. When Erza saw Naruto her face softened in relief and tried to move towards her younger sibling, but was stopped by one of their captors.

They were on the side of a road with many cages attached to vehicles that carried them. The road itself was pretty wide and went along a mountain. The road had a nice view of a forest that seamed to go on forever. It would've been a nice thing to see but many people took notice of the fact that the side of the road was a shear drop into a river with what appeared to be a very strong current.

"Line up." One guy shouted.

The captured villagers begrudgingly obeyed their captors and lined up shoulder to shoulder as the dark mages inspected them.

After a little arranging the villagers were spit into three groups adult, children, and undesired. The adult group consisted of everyone between the ages of sixteen to forty. The children group was everyone between the ages of seven to fifteen. This was also the group that Naruto, Erza, and Simon had been placed in. The undesirable group consisted of the elderly, those under the age of seven, or those with a disability. Everyone was trying to figure out the reason behind the groups but was answered by one of the dark mages.

"Listen up. I want everyone to hear this so I can see the look on your faces." He said with a dark smile. "The adult and children groups will be sent to the tower of heaven and help in construction. The women's group will be sold off as sex slaves to fund the tower. And the undesirables will be disposed of here."

The people in the undesirable group gained a look of fear before the mages shot them down. Everyone looked away as the street was filled with blood. The followers of Zeref were enjoying themselves as they laughed at their captive's misery. One of the robed men calmed down enough to speak again.

"Now I want the rest of you to throw the bodies over the edge and prove your usefulness." Another fit of laughter erupted from the mages as the prisoners got to work on the task. Naruto wanted to argue but knew what could happen if he did. The work was hard and dirty, blood stained everyone's clothing, and Naruto almost threw up multiple times.

When Naruto bent over to grab the legs of an elderly man, a kind guy Naruto had known, he felt something hard hidden in his sock. Before anyone could take notice Naruto took the object and hid it in his pocket. The object itself was a knife, something the old man had probably brought in case he got the chance to escape.

When all the bodies had disappeared over the edge and into the water the prisoners were lined up again. Naruto was next to Erza on her left while Simon was about three people over. Naruto and a few other prisoners began to fidget as they were carefully examined.

"You all seem fit enough to work for us get back in the cages." The man ordered. Everyone obeyed and began making their way to the prisons. "Except you." The man said looking at Erza. Everyone froze to see what would happen to the girl.

"Me?" She questioned unable to hide the fear in her voice.

"Yeah you look like the bitch who killed our captain. This will be pay-back." Erza's eyes grew wide as the man pulled out a spear and raised it above his head. Simon tried to rush forward and stop him but was held back by other prisoners.

For Naruto everything moved in slow motion. He didn't know what to do if he lost Erza as well. That's when Naruto felt a weight in his pocket and remembered the knife. Without thinking the young blond pulled out the knife and rushed forward.

Everyone froze when the knife plunged into the man's stomach. Everyone was in shock that an eight year old just stabbed a dark mage with a knife.

"Naruto?" Erza asked in a small voice.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" The man roared before pushing Naruto off him. The boy managed to maintain his footing and grip on the blade as he stumbled back. Before Naruto could stab him again the man swung the shaft of his spear towards Naruto's head and knocked him over the edge of the cliff.

Erza saw her brother fall and rushed to the edge of the cliff. "NARUTO!" She screamed for her brother. She was about to jump after him despite the risk to herself but was pulled back by a rough hand. She turned and saw it was the same guy that Naruto had stabbed. Without thinking Erza struggled against the man's grip. "Let go of me! I need to save him! He needs me!" Erza shouted at the man despite her tears.

"Shut up he's dead. But you'll see him real soon." The man raised his weapon again but was stopped by one of the dark mages.

"Let her live we can't afforded to kill anymore sacrifices." The man relented after that and lowered his weapon.

However Erza was still distraught over Naruto and began screaming at the dark mage in front of her. "You killed him! Give me back my brother! Give me back Naruto!"

Having enough of the girl the man struck her and knocked her down. Erza remained motionless but said one thing, "I'm so sorry."

**With Naruto**

Naruto felt his stomach rise into his mouth as he fell for what seemed like hours. The world rushed past him and the river below rapidly approached.

Naruto plunged several feet into the river before he was carried away by the strong rapids. Naruto could barely see anything under the water due to the darkness. He desperately tried to make it back up to the water's surface for air but he had no idea which way was up or down. Before Naruto could decide on a direction to swim he felt something hard slam into his body. The young boy instinctively grabbed onto the object and found that it was a large rock that poked above the water's surface. Naruto clung to the rock and climbed up it in search of air. His head burst out of the water and he looked around. The strength of the current could be seen by the way it crashed against other rocks that poked above the surface but was much larger underneath. The blond boy would've held on longer but his grip was slipping. A piece of driftwood caught Naruto's eye and he dove for it.

He successfully latched onto the piece of wood but the currents continued to push him down river. Naruto was unable to relax as he and his makeshift flotation device folded against the rocks jutting out of the river. Near the end of the strong current Naruto hit his head against a large stone and passed out on the drift wood.

**Omake-2: A lost name**

"What happened to you?" An irate Kushina asked her seven-year old son. Naruto was covered in mud and had a few scrapes and bruises along his body.

"Some kids were making fun of Erza's hair so I told them to stop. They just laughed and pushed me into some mud." Naruto recounted sad that he was unable to defend his big sister. "I'm sorry I got my cloths ruined."

Kushina's angry scowl melted into a warm smile. "It's okay you did the right thing." Kushina elaborated at the sight of her son's confused face. "A family protects and defends each other. That's what it means to share a last name." Naruto smiled but was still sad he failed his sister. "Don't worry the only thing that matters is that you tried now go get washed up dinner is in a couple of hours." The boy gave a quick nod and rushed upstairs to get a shower.

"What are you going to do?" Kushina asked the seemingly empty room. Erza walked out of the hallway she was hiding in and moved towards the door.

"I'm going to show some people my brother is off-limits." Kushina couldn't help the smirk on her face as she began dinner.

This was the memory that played out in Erza's head as the cages moved down the road. She had failed her duty as a big sister. She no longer deserved to call herself a Namikaze. She sat in silence for a while when a lock of her fair fell in front of her eyes. She had always held some resentment towards her hair for the harassment people gave her. That's when she came to a decision. 'From now on I'll be Erza Scarlet.'

**Author notes**

I finally got around to chapter two hope you guys enjoyed it. I probably would've posted this sooner but second son came out and I was busy with that.

I honestly can't begin to tell you guys how different this story is from what I originally had planned. It's like I got in the car Disneyland but remembered how crowded and overpriced it is so I went to six flags instead. I think this will be a great story and I might write-up the story it was going to be later on.

I also feel the need to clarify that Kushina has requip magic and chain magic.

Be sure to review since they tend to motivate me and I'll hopefully post a new chapter soon though I'm not sure which story to update next.

Later


	3. Chapter 3

**Blah blah blah disclaimer blah blah don't own blah**

I'm back with a new chapter of the story that people apparently like despite the fact it was written by me. So sit, back relax, and ignore my inevitable grammar mistakes but first I need to respond to some of my reviews. (Check out the two polls I have posted)

**Mzr90:** Sory to lose you but I can't please everyone.

**Karlsson:** Thanks for the info I'll be sure to use it. But don't expect the NarutoXLucy story soon it's still just an idea at this point.

**Milkitia:** I'm not planing on having Naruto learn dragon slaying magic in this story but maybe in another one wink wink nudge nudge.

**AnguishedOne:** hey I had to kill Kushina. It's not Naruto if he doesn't go through some sort of trauma. As for Minato I explained where he was in the first chapter

**GuestWithIdeas:** I'm not going to have Minato or Jiraya (He's all but guaranteed to be in the story) appear and save Naruto since that would prevent Naruto from overcoming the obstacles I have lined up for him. Don't worry the blow to his head just knocked him out for a long time so go ahead and give me that idea of yours when your ready though I already have that scene more or less mapped out. I know where your coming from about my Omake but I'm not that sure what an omake is exactly so I've just been using them as if they were a bonus scene to elaborate a scenario that I either brushed over or didn't get to in the story. That and I couldn't think of anything funny last chapter but didn't want to not make an omake. I'm not going to have Naruto hate Minato nor will I bash anyone in this story at least on purpose. As for Minato's career that led to him becoming a wizard saint... to be honest I completely forgot about that. I have a large part of this story planed out but this was one of the things that slipped under the radar. He'll probably be a rune knight like you said which actually gives me a great idea for an omake this chapter.

**Guest:** No amnesia as for your Akisame idea... let's just say I'm suddenly more eager to write Naruto's physical training (insert evil laugh).

* * *

**Chapter 3: The fox, the savage, and the forest**

The first thing Naruto's conscious mind registered was the sound of running water. When he opened his eyes, with great difficulty, he found himself floating down a river with his upper body lain across a large piece of wood. The current was much gentler than the water he had fallen into, though it was still carrying him down-stream fairly quickly. Judging by the trees on both sides of the river Naruto was floating further and further into a thick forest.

When he saw a muddy shore at a slight bend in the river, Naruto began kicking to reach it. It took a while but once he washed up on shore Naruto removed himself from the driftwood and crawled away from the river. After Naruto traveled a few feet he began to violently cough up the water he had swallowed while unconscious. Eventually he stopped coughing and collapsed on the rivers shore.

Naruto could feel everything now that he was fully conscious. He was sore from his big fall, his head hurt from the blow it received from the rock, and his wet clothes left him cold and shivering. As he laid there the memories of his village's fate hit him worse than the rock did. His mother was dead, Erza had more than likely died after he fell, and his home was burnt to the ground. Naruto would've cried if he had the energy for it.

Rolling on his back, Naruto stared up at the clear blue sky. It was sunset when he fell into the river which meant he was unconscious for the whole night and half a day. The young boy continued to observe the clouds while the emotional and physical strain continued to eat away at him. Naruto became numb to the emotions as the pain was too much for him.

Once a few hours had passed Naruto pushed himself up on shaky feet and slowly made his way to the tree line. When he reached the first tree Naruto leaned his back against it and slid down the trunk. He still felt tired and beaten up so he slowly removed his wet shirt, wincing as he moved his arms above his head, and fell asleap.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes and himself in an empty Rosemary village. Not understanding how he got here Naruto looked around frantically. Unlike when he left, the houses and other buildings were completely unscathed everything looked exactly like what the blond boy remembered.

But it was all wrong.

The streets were empty, the laughter of children was gone, and the birds were completely silent. Naruto became afraid as he began to feel alone.

" Hey! Where is everyone?!" Naruto shouted out. "Erza?! Simon?! Kagura?! Dad?! Mom?!" He continued to yell desperately looking for someone he knew.

"Naruto." A soft voice spoke behind him.

"Mom!" The blond shouted out happily, but his face dropped when he saw the state she was in. Her clothes were torn and singed in various places, the sword in her hands was dripping with blood, and worst of all her eyes looked dead. "Mom?" Naruto asked nervously. The boy would've asked what was wrong but just then he saw a dark mage coming towards his mother from behind. The mage brought out a gun and pointed it towards Kushina. Time slowed as the trigger was pulled.

* * *

"MOM!" Naruto shot up from where he sat against the tree. It was late at night as shown by the star filled sky. The blond was breathing hard and had broken out in a cold sweat. Naruto just sat still for a few minutes while he tried to get his breathing under control.

The dream had ended when Naruto heard the gunshot but the image of his mother getting shot repeatedly entered his head. The reality of the situation hit Naruto all over again. He was alone in the forest and his family was gone. There was no way Kushina survived and the dark mages more than likely killed Erza once he was out of the way. That just left Minato, his father.

'Will Dad come save me?' Naruto thought. 'How can he find me? Does he even know I'm alive? More importantly do I want him to save me?' These were the questions running through Naruto's mind. He had realized that Kushina died protecting him and he was too weak to defend Erza. The thought of seeing his father when he was responsible for Kushina and Erza's frightened Naruto. He didn't know how Minato would react. As thoughts of his family continued to haunt him Naruto did the only thing anyone in his situation could do.

He cried. Naruto hated himself for it but everything was becoming too much for him. The tears continued to pour out for a while until they became quiet sobs. Eventually the boy had cried himself to sleep.

**The next day**

Naruto awoke late in the morning. He still felt like crap from the other day so he chose to stay seated where he was. It was difficult for Naruto to keep his mind off his family and friends but he distracted himself by figuring out what he should do. If he went wandering around the forest he could become more lost than he already was. He could follow the river upstream but that would take him to the cliff and Naruto had no way to climb it. That left downstream as the only plausible direction for Naruto to take but who knows how far it would go or where it even went.

After much consideration Naruto chose to stay where he was. The boy decided that if he stayed still long enough someone would come along and show him a way out of the forest.

Naruto closed his eyes hoping to fall asleep, since there was nothing else to do, when his stomach made itself known. It was at this moment Naruto realized it had been at least twenty-four hours since he last ate and he was beginning to feel the effects.

Naruto scanned the forest for a food source and his eyes settled on the river. There didn't appear to be any edible vegetation nearby so the blond would have to fish if he wanted to eat. Naruto made his way to the river and stared at it intensely. Fish could clearly be seen in the river so the boy knew this would be a reliable food source. The only question left would be how to catch the fish. There was no fishing pole and it would be impossible to do it bare handed. His best bet would be spear fishing.

Naruto took a look around for something he could use as a spear and found a fairly long stick next to the tree he slept under. Upon close inspection the stick had sharp point on the end of it. Deciding that this would be the best stick he could use, Naruto made his way back to the river with the makeshift spear in hand.

A few minutes later Naruto was standing in a shallow part of the river paying close attention to fish swimming towards him. The boy's sight locked onto an average sized fish heading his way. When it was within reach Naruto thrust the stick forward into the water and pulled it out to reveal... nothing.

Again and again Naruto repeated the process but each attempt was met with failure. The sun was high in the sky and Naruto was more hungry now than ever. His muscles started to become sore and his frustration increased. Naruto was about to give up and look for some fruit in the forest when he remembered something from school.

Slowly putting the spear into the water, Naruto observed how it appeared to bend. Quickly taking the tool out of the water the boy watched for his next target closely. When the fish came close Naruto thrust the spear slightly to the right of his target. When the stick was pulled out a fish was desperately trying to get off the piece of wood impaling it. A huge grin broke out over Naruto's face as his theory was proven true, the light was being bent in the water so the fish appeared to be further right than it actually was.

Naruto walked ashore with his first catch. He had successfully overcome his first trial and he swore he would overcome the rest but first he needed to figure out how to make a fire.

**Four months later**

It has been four months since Naruto had caught the fish. He had been scratching tally marks into his favorite tree in order to keep track of time. The blond had successfully stayed alive so far but each day became harder than the last. For the first two months it had been relatively easy in the forest. Wild animals didn't bother him and fish were plentiful. He had learned to start fires and he sharpened the stick with nearby rocks. Once he was confident he could make it back to the camp, Naruto had begun exploring the immediate area and found multiple food sources such as berries and fruit. But each day became harder mentally.

After the first eight weeks Naruto began to doubt if anyone would find him. It became harder and harder to believe he would be saved each day that passed and Naruto was losing his will. By the end of the third month it had become a challenge just to spear his own fish. At this point he was lucky to catch one per day.

The worst part were the nightmares. Every night Naruto would have a nightmare and wake up in the dead of night. Sometimes it would be the dream where his mother was shot in the empty village. He would frequently dream of Erza getting speared by a dark mage while he was forced to watch. He would dream of Kagura getting dragged off into a dark alley before he was awakened by her screams. Naruto also saw dreams where Simon was repeatedly beat by the mages until his entire body was broken. He would occasionally dream of his father's disappointed face and glaring eyes. But the worst dream was the one where he stood in the center of Rosemary's town square surrounded by the bloodied villagers. They would scream and moan in pain but the voices Naruto cared for most were always the loudest. The dreams continued to eat away at Naruto's resolve until he was just a shell of his past self.

Naruto sat next to small fire he had made as he quietly ate his latest catch. It was just a small fish. He couldn't find it in him to look for any other food so he continued to eat the fish. Dark bags had found their way under Naruto's eyes which now had a distant look. As today was the end of his fourth month in the forest Naruto began evaluating his condition.

He was all alone and the silence was beginning to get to him. Naruto didn't talk anymore since there was never a reason to do so. It had been so long since he spoke the boy wasn't entirely sure he could anymore. Coherent thought were becoming harder to maintain and he was tempted to kill himself on more than one occasion. There was no doubt in Naruto's mind. He was going crazy. But the funny thing was he just couldn't make himself care. Naruto already realized he was going to die here so what did it mater?

It was becoming late so Naruto decided he might as well sleep. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree allowing himself to fall unconscious.

* * *

"Hey." A voice spoke up in front of Naruto. The blond boy slowly opened his eyes to watch the person before him. The person was a small boy around Naruto's age. He possessed spiky blond hair and blue eyes filled with anger. The boy was an exact replica of Naruto but without the defeated look.

When Naruto realized that this was only a dream he tried to close his eyes and ignore it, but his doppelgänger had other plans. Naruto's mirror image grabbed him by his shirt's collar and pulled him close. Empty eyes stared into ones filled with rage both blonds never looking away. "What do you think you're doing?" The angry blond growled out.

"I'm trying to sleep." The boy replied slightly annoyed.

The dream Naruto just got angrier. "That's not what I'm talking about. What are you doing in that forest?"

"I'm waiting for help." Naruto replied quietly.

"You're waiting to die." The dream countered.

Naruto felt his irritation grow into anger. "Why do you care? Who the hell are you?!" He began shouting at the end.

The doppelgänger let go of Naruto's shirt and punched him in the face. The blond was sent sprawling into the dirt. Ignoring the pain in his cheek, Naruto tried to get back on his feet but his clone kicked him in the side so he landed on his back. Before anything else happened Naruto found that his clone was keeping him pinned by stepping on him.

"I'm the part of you that actually wants to live." The rage had lessened from the second Naruto's eyes but they now held a strong authority over the boy.

"I want to live." Naruto protested quietly.

The doppelgänger just scoffed at that. "Really? Then why are you just lying around while you slowly starve? How come you never tried to leave this place? Face it you never tried to leave this place because you didn't want to. You talked yourself into thinking you were waiting to be rescued when you just wanted to hide from the world. Grow up and get out of here."

The two Naruto's glared at each other but the original blond broke the eye contact when his face morphed into an expression that betrayed all the mental stress and trauma he has undergone. "Why? Mom and Erza are dead, there is no way I can face Dad again, and I just can't think of reason to go on. Why should I struggle my way through this forest when I can just rest here?" His voice sounded just as defeated as he looked.

The dream Naruto regarded his counterpart for a moment before he stepped off. "Since when do you need a reason to continue livening?" The simple question caught Naruto by surprise and he looked back at his clone. "You can continue to live without your family it's hard but you can overcome this. And if you need a reason you'd be better off searching for one rather than just wasting away here."

Naruto considered those words for a few moments before he responded. "How can I get out of here?"

"I'm not sure. You need to figure that out yourself, but I'm sure you'll figure something out. After all we're the same person." The doppelgänger extended his hand towards Naruto who firmly took it in his own.

"Okay." Naruto smirked. "Let's do this."

* * *

The boy opened and found that it was morning. Naruto took a deep breath and looked around. It was time to accept everything. He was alone and no one was coming. If he wanted to leave this forest he would have to find his own way out.

After a quick fish breakfast, Naruto grabbed his favorite wooden spear and followed the river's current down stream.

**One week later**

It has been a week since Naruto left his four month long home in search of a way out of the forest. Multiple different animal species could be found drinking along the river. Naruto tended to keep his distance from the wild life to avoid being seen as a threat, but when he found a stray deer by itself Naruto made sure to spear it since the meat was much better than that of his daily fish. An occasional vulcan could be heard stomping around in the forest. After hearing stories about the violence and mischief a Vulcan causes from the villagers Naruto made it a point to stay as far away as he could. The nightmares still came but Naruto didn't let them control him like they once did. He missed his family but he would mourn for them later.

On the evening of the seventh day Naruto found the end of the river. And much to his disappointment it emptied into a lake with no sign of civilization in sight. It was a beautiful lake with clear blue water and several steams leading off in different directions of the forest.

Groaning Naruto dropped down on the shore of the lake. After a moment of rest he decided to catch his dinner and settle down for the night. He would come up with a new plan tomorrow.

A couple hours later Naruto sat next to a small fire and watched as his three fish cooked over it. To be honest Naruto was sick and tired of fish but he didn't have the energy to look for anything else. He pulled a fish off from where it hung over the fire and glared at it hoping it could somehow change into his Dad's homemade hamburger. Closing his eyes Naruto forced down the family memory and opened his mouth to take a bite but froze when he felt something watching him.

Turning to his right Naruto found a small fox, no bigger than a kitten, stating up at him with curious red eyes. The creature had beautiful blond fur with a slight tinge of orange. Naruto let out a small chuckle. He had been so afraid of the wild life he had forgotten just how cute some baby animals could be. "Are you hungry?" The boy asked with a smile. Getting no response Naruto grabbed one of his two remaining fish and tossed it in front of the small creature. The fox sniffed the fish and observed the blond cautiously before tearing into the offered meal. Naruto laughed and bit into his own meal.

"Was it good?" Naruto asked the fox that was now looking up at him with grateful eyes. It let out a small yip as if answering Naruto's question. The blond chuckled again and took the remaining fish off the fire. The cooked fish was torn in half and shared with the fox. When the meal was done the small fox ran up to Naruto and began to make strange gestures with it's body. The boy watched the animal in amusement for a moment before realizing it wanted to play.

"Sorry but I'm a little too tired for that right now." Naruto kept his amused smirk but the fox look sad. The fox, who Naruto decided to call chibi until he figured out a better name, looked up at the blond with adorable puppy dog eyes. Naruto felt his will begin to crumble but he was too sore from walking all day and he needed sleep since he would be doing the same thing tomorrow. Naruto let out a sigh and reached towards chibi he began to pet the fox much to the animal's pleasure. Once a couple minutes passed Naruto stopped and lied down for the night. Chibi looked off into the trees for a moment as if thinking something over before curling up next to Naruto and following him into slumber.

**Several miles away**

Somewhere in the forest a female figure sat silently on a large rock in the middle of a clearing. The person sat cross legged with her eyes closed in thought. Before long a dark green hawk flew down and landed beside her. "Did you find anything?" The girl asked never opening her eyes. The bird stared up at her and answered with a caw. "A fox and a boy huh? Is it who we're looking for?" There was another caw and the girl became irritated. "What do you mean I should see them myself? We've been looking for him in this forest for an entire month if you've found him tell me." There was a long pause as neither human nor bird spoke. "Fine I'll go in the morning!" The girl relented/yelled at the bird. The hawk flew up into a tree where it settled down for the night. The girl got off the rock and lied down on a soft patch of land before muttering out, "Stupid bird."

**In the morning**

Naruto opened his eyes to a beautiful view of the lake at sunrise. The light seemed to hit the water in just the right way to create the image Naruto made sure to ingrane in his memory. He was actually kind of glad the river emptied out here rather than lead to some village.

After pushing off his drowsiness Naruto tried to get up and start the day but felt something weigh down his chest. When he checked Naruto found that chibi had chosen to make the boy her bed for the night. Naruto gently moved his newly made friend onto the ground and picked up his spear so he could begin fishing for breakfast. Naruto threw a couple pieces of wood onto the fire to keep it going and made his way to the lake.

Four fish later the blond made his way back to the fire and the now awake chibi next to it. The fox seemed to glare at Naruto who merely laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry I made you sleep on the ground but I wanted to catch breakfast." At the end of the apology Naruto held up the fish getting an immediate reaction from the fox who began to look hungrily at the food. "Hold on I need to cook it first." Chibi deflated at that but still seemed excited for the food.

Before the boy could pick up one of the fish he had dropped next to the fire when he made his last comment, a shadow flew past them and two of the fish disappeared. Naruto and his fox companion were dumbfounded at the sudden disappearance of their food. They turned and found a large green bird eating both of the fish that had disappeared. Naruto was about to throw his spear at the thief but froze when a voice hit his ears.

"Was that really necessary Tibarn?" The hawk quickly finished off the meal and flew towards the source of the voice. A second later a women in her mid twenties stepped out of a trees shadow and made her way to Naruto and small fox who decided to hide behind the boy. To Naruto, who hadn't had any human contact in months, the women felt like a cruel dream.

She was fairly tall standing at about five ten if Naruto had to guess. Her dark brown eyes had a fierce look in them that could strike fear in any man. She had an angular face that was undoubtably beautiful and radiated power. Her short messy hair was a deep shade of brown and framed her face with bangs partly covering her left eye. A dark red headband was wrapped around her forehead and went down her shoulder for a few inches. She wore a tight golden brown tank top and blue jeans frayed in various places. Her hands were in black fingerless gloves that went up to just below her elbow. The well endowed girl radiated strength and power despite her beauty.

**(I'm really not good at describing people. If you want to get a better idea of what she looks like look up Erza's early concept art)**

Naruto finally found his voice and desperately asked the question he had been trying to find an answer to for the past week. "Hey. Can you please tell me how to leave this forest?" The women studied Naruto and Chibi with a keen eye before turning to her feathered companion.

"What the hell? You dragged me all the way out here for some boy and a baby fox. I thought you found my prey." The women complained. Tibarn let out a screech and the women looked confused. "The boy? What about the boy?" The still unnamed women turned back towards Naruto and studied him once more. "Hey kid. You look familiar what's your name?"

Naruto looked nervous but responded. "Um I'm Naruto Namikaze." He said nervously.

The women took a thinking pose and closed her eyes in concentration. "Namikaze. Namikze. Nami...kaze." Realization dawned on her and she gained a big smirk. "You're Minato's kid aren't you?" Naruto nodded nervously and her smirk grew into a full blown grin. "Oh this is perfect. Can you step aside for a moment I need to talk with that fox behind you." The blond looked confused and turned to the animal behind him who seemed to shrink back further. Getting defensive of Chibi Naruto chose to stay where he was, not that the women noticed. "I know that you're not an average fox so tell me where I can find Kurama." Chibi's eyes were filled with fear at this point and Naruto felt the need to act.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. "Leave my friend alone!" Everyone stopped and turned towards the blond with various expressions. The hawk looked as if Naruto was just another mouse to hunt, the women turned to the boy with a raised eye, while Chibi stared up at the blond with admiration.

"Didn't I ask you to step aside?" Naruto could see that her smile was forced and any trust he had in her was gone. When Naruto didn't respond she dropped her smile. "I'll make a deal with you. If you step away from the fox I'll take you to your father before the end of the week."

It would be a lie if Naruto said he wasn't tempted but Chibi had been his first interaction with another living being in months that couldn't be described as eat or avoid. It might be irrational to remain alone in a forest for a fox you just met but his friend felt threatened so he wasn't going to abandon the fox. And something about the women felt off to Naruto.

The women scoffed. "Fine be that way. I just wanted to find the legendary Kurama. He's the reason I've been in this forest for the past month. Unfortunately I couldn't find him no mater how much I looked." Suddenly her face twisted into a dark smirk. "But I did find someone in his tribe."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked with a twinge of fear.

"It's a pretty simple concept if I killed someone Kurama knew he would be mad enough to find me." The women was starring Naruto straight in the eyes now. "If I were to kill you right now would your dad be angry enough to fight me?"

Naruto's eyes widened significantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The women seemed to get a little annoyed at that question. "I met your Dad about seven years ago..."

**Seven years ago**

"Are you Minato Namikaze?" A young seventeen year old girl asked. She and the man who stood before her were just outside of a pub in Hargeon town in the middle of night. After hearing rumors of a man that could defeat an entire dark guild by himself in less than a minute the girl began searching for the legend which led her here.

"Yeah that's me." The man said with a nervous chuckle. He had been on his way home from some business he had in the capital but his train was early so he went into the bar for a quick drink. When he came out he was ambushed by the girl before him who was now smirking.

"Perfect." Suddenly she was armed with a spear and Minato was on alert. "You're going to fight me." She demanded.

Minato looked at the girl evenly for a moment and began rubbing his head while he gave her a slight smile. "Sorry but my train is about to leave and Kushina will kill me if I miss Naruto's first birthday tomorrow. I'll fight you some other time." With that the man turned around and walked towards the train station.

Enraged at being ignored, the teen rushed forwards intent on inflicting a small wound as a warning. Right when her spear was about to make contact Minato vanished and something hit the girl in the back of her head. She fell to the floor unconscious.

**Present day**

"Ever since that day when your father beat me so easily I tripled my training for when we would meet again."

"But why is fighting my Dad so important?" Naruto asked praying for a way out.

The women just laughed. "Why? Because fighting strong people is the best way to gain strength. And power is the most important thing in this world." The space around the women's hand seemed to bend and twist, before Naruto realized it she was holding a spear in her right hand.

The shaft of the spear was made of a dark brown wood with pure black lines creating intricate designers on it. An eighteen inch blade was attached to the shaft on one end while the other end was smooth and rounded out. The spear seemed to be of a really simple design but it was defiantly more dangerous than the makeshift one Naruto held.

"But before I fight your Dad I'm going to finish hunting Kurama." At this she turned to the small fox before her. "I'm sure he'll come out if I kill one of his family."

Naruto didn't know who this Kurama guy was or how he was related to Chibi but he did know that this women was dangerous. Hoping to buy time Naruto tried to get her talking again. "Who are you and why is this Kurama guy so important."

The women began to slowly approach the boy as she twirled her spear. "My name is Artrem Eru and I want to fight Kurama because I hear he's as strong as the dragons possibly stronger." She paused and took in a deep breath never losing the blood thirsty look on her face "I feel so excited just thinking about our fight. But enough about that I'd prefer to kill you in a way that your father can see so I'll ask you to move aside again."

Naruto quickly swallowed his fear and pointed his only weapon at Artrem who seemed amused at his actions. Suddenly the green hawk flew off the women's shoulder at impossible speeds. A strong wind blew behind Naruto and the fox he had come to know wasn't in sight. Fear griped Naruto's heart but quickly faded away when he heard a yip to his right. Glancing over Naruto saw that Tibarn had grown to a size slightly larger than a grown man and was currently keeping Chibi pined to the ground with a large talon. Before the blond could start to feel relieved Artrem chose to speak up.

"Fine I'll kill you now if that's what you want but remember that I gave you a chance to survive." Her smirk was no longer bloodthirsty but it was definitely cocky. "Since you're willing to stand up to me I'll make you another deal. Should you land one scratch on me I'll let you both leave. Deal?"

Naruto remained silent but gave a quick nod. If he only needed to land one scratch on her than he definitely had a chance to survive. Artrem continued her slow approach while Naruto watched carefully. When she was within range, Artrem raised her weapon up and brought it down on the blond. Naruto quickly raised his spear in a hasty defense and the blow landed on the spear between Naruto's hand holds. There was a loud snap as the boy's weapon failed to slow down the blow. The swing continued unhindered and left a large cut running down from Naruto's right shoulder to his left hip. Blood sprayed out of the shocked boys wound. Artrem looked disappointed as she stared at the wide eyed boy.

"Even if you are just a kid I thought you would've survived for at least a minute. I guess you didn't inherit your Dad's talent. Come on kid don't quit now I could've killed you with that but I chose not to in case you were holding back." Naruto continued to stare at the women in fear prompting a sigh from Artrem. "This is a fight kid if you won't give me a good battle I'll just use you as a punching bag." Artrem punctuated her sentence by swinging the blunt end of her spear against the blond's face.

Naruto was sent sprawling on the ground. He realised it was useless. There was no way he could touch her much less land a cut with his now broken spear. He briefly considered staying down in hopes that she left him alone, but he knew what would happen to Chibi if he failed this fight. Memories of Rosemary's destruction entered Naruto's mind and he swore that he wouldn't fail someone like that ever again.

Artrem couldn't help but smirk as the blond boy slowly got up and grabbed one half of his broken spear. This time it was the boy who made his way to Artrem. Once he was within range of the women's spear Naruto was sent flying backwards from a blunt blow. The boy refused to stay down and got back up. The cycle of standing up just to get knocked back down repeated for several minuets. Naruto refused to stay down and Artrem was becoming bored.

"Why do you keep standing up? You don't have the power to beat me." Artrem was genuinely confused at the boy's actions. Naruto didn't respond and continued to make his way towards the lancer. Artrem failed to hold back a sigh and stabbed her spear into the ground prompting a questioning look from the blond and the fox observing on the sidelines. The women raised her now empty hand next to her face and quickly shut it. "I don't think you realize the gap between us I haven't even used my magic yet you still want to fight." She extended her closed fist in front of her towards the blond. When she opened it there was a single leaf between her index and middle finger. "I can kill you with just about anything, even a leaf." Artrem took a deep breath before she spoke her next words. "**Leaf magic: Iron Petal" **

suddenly the leaf stiffened and became flat between her fingers. In less than a second the attack shot forward and pierced through the boy's shoulder ignoring the skin and bone along it's path.

Once the leaf exited out the other end of Naruto's shoulder the boy griped his new wound and yelled out in pain. He dropped to his knees and did his best to keep back the tears of pain threatening to come forth. A moment later Artrem stood before him once again holding her spear. A moment passed and the lancer raised her weapon intent on finishing off the blond but froze mid swing. Artrem's eyes darted to the left and her mouth turned into a full blown smirk "Finally." She whispered out.

Off on the sidelines a blur slammed into Tibarn knocking him away from the fox. The blur shifted directions and rushed towards Artrem.

The women stood her ground, completely forgetting about Naruto, and raised her lance to block a claw aimed at her heart. Artrem's expression revealed her bloodthirsty excitement as the claw continued to push against her weapon. The owner of the claw was a large fox who was now glaring at the lancer before him.

"Are you Kurama of the nine great beasts?" Artrem questioned with excitement in her voice. The fox remained silent and continued to glare at the women. "Not talking huh? Fine then." Artrem jumped backwards and swung her spear downwards at Kurama's head. The fox slashed with his claws and the sound iron against claw rang out. Artrem jumped further backwards and a dark green magic circle formed in front of her. **"Petal blade storm"**

The leafs in a tree behind her all stiffened and pointed at Kurama. Without a second thought the large fox grabbed the boy bleeding out behind behind him with his tail he then moved over to where Chibi was watching and picked up the smaller fox in his jaws. By then the leafs had already separated from the tree and were heading for Kurama. The fox took off into the tree line with the leafs in hot pursuit going through several tree trunks before they finally stopped.

Back by the lack Artrem turned to her companion."Don't let them get away." She commanded and the bird took off.

**Two days later**

Naruto awoke on the softest surface he felt in months. For what felt like hours he just lied their in complete bliss. Eventually the boy had enough and sat up. Naruto took in his surroundings and found that he was inside of what appeared to be a hollow tree. The surface he was sleeping on was a pile of grass and leafs arranged as a soft bed. He sat their for a few moments trying to recall what happened, but everything past the women using magic for the first time was a blur.

Eventually he was brought out of his thoughts by soft gasp to his right. Quickly turning to his right Naruto saw that it was Chibi staring at him with wide eyes. Suddenly she jumped at him and screamed, "Your awake!" Naruto was so shocked at hearing his friend speak he was unable to keep himself upright when the young fox slammed into him.

"You can talk Chibi?" The fox froze and looked up at him offended.

"I'm not a Chibi!" Chibi squealed in indignation.

Naruto heard the sound of a man chuckling behind him. "Don't get so worked up Kyu." The voiced scolded. Naruto turned around and saw a large orange fox walking into the tree. "After all you're the one who convinced me to bring him here." The now named Kyu huffed and looked away. The larger fox turned towards the blond. "My name is Kurama and this is my daughter Kyu."

"Yeah!" Kyu shouted. "My name's not Chibi!"

Kurama chuckled at the younger fox and turned towards Naruto expectantly. Realizing the unasked question Naruto, who had been watching the exchange with unbelieving eyes, straightened up and spoke hastily. "I'm Naruto Namikaze." The fox nodded and was about to speak but Naruto interrupted him. "How are you able to talk?"

Kurama looked at the boy for a second before he responded. "How are _you_ able to talk?" Naruto opened his moth to answer but closed it when he couldn't find a retort. "Now as I was saying, Kyu told me about how you defended her from that mage so I owe you greatly for that." The blond was about to protest but Kurama held up a paw to silence him. "I don't feel any magic energy in you beyond what most people have so I can safely say you're no mage. To be honest I'm surprised that you survived in the forest for as long as you did." Naruto was about to ask something again but once again he was preempted. "I was alerted to your presence the day you washed ashore. I don't get involved with humans more than I have to so I chose to leave you alone. In fact I was planning to just drop you off at the outskirts of the closest human town, but Kyu convinced me to bring you back here and give you a reward." Naruto was a little pissed off that this fox just left him to die but decided not to get mad since angering the fox wouldn't be a good idea and Kurama had no obligation to the boy in the first place. Seeing that the fox was about to continue Naruto shoved down his thoughts and payed attention.

"To thank you for protecting Kyu I'll give you the opportunity to stay here for the next six months and learn magic." Naruto stared at the Fox for a moment and nodded dumbly. Naruto was always fascinated by magic and now this fox he just met was offering to teach him. There was no way Naruto would pass this up. "Good but before we begin I think it's important we make something clear. I will not be teaching you magic. I'll instruct you on how to access your magic energy but from there you will learn from this." Kurama maneuvered his tail in between himself and Naruto who saw that it was wrapped around something. The tail unfurled and a small book dropped to the floor.

"I tested you're magic when you were asleep and this book details the magic that's best suited for you." Naruto and Kyu stared at the book in wonder.

"What's it called?" The excited blond asked.

Kurama smirked. "It's called Divine Light Magic."

**Omake-3: The start of a love story**

"Why do I have to go to the hot springs with you again?" A sixteen year old Minato Namikaze asked of the man walking beside him as they made their way down a spacious hallway. The man in question turned to the boy with a perverted grin.

"Because it's my duty as your superior officer to show you the wonders on the women's side of a hot spring." At the end of his explanation he let out a small giggle as thoughts of what he would see entered his mind.

"I appreciate that you're looking out for me but I don't see how the women's side could possibly be any different from the men's." Minato stated.

The perverted man turned to the boy next to him bewildered. "Do you seriously not know what I'm talking about?"

Minato just shook his head and turned to the older man. "No but I was transferred into your unit six months ago and I'm tired of your perverted habits so I decided to ignore any implications of perverseness you may show." He deadpanned.

"You're no fun." Jiraya pouted before straightening up. "But I'm seriously worried about you. You spend every free moment you have in the library so I think it's long past time I force you to do something fun."

"Like peeping on women?" Minato deadpanned.

"Exactly." The older man clarified.

Minato just sighed and resisted the urge to facepalm. "But I'm almost done with the theory behind the magic I told you about." The blond protested.

"Look Minato, you can finish creating your magic later for now you need to relax or you'll stress yourself out." The man explained.

Minato was about to protest but the sound of someone down the hall interrupted him. "Lord Jiraya please stop that girl!" Minato looked back and saw that a girl his age was running towards them laughing histaricaly as the two rune knights chasing her failed to keep up.

Minato was about to intervene and restrain the girl but Jiraya beat him to the chase. Before anyone could blink the white haired man had already picked up the girl by the back of her shirt.

"Hey let me down old man!" The girl shouted without a hint of fear.

A tick mark appeared on Jiraya's forehead as he yelled back, "Old man?! I'm only twenty eight!" The two continued their shouting match and the rune knight's caught up.

Curious about the girl, Minato walked over to the knights in the hopes of gaining info. "Excuse me but why were you after her?"

The rune knight continued to gasp for air before he answered the question. "She broke free from our custody on our way to the courtroom."

"What did she do to get sent to court?" Minato asked confused on why someone so young needed to be sent to court with a rune knight escort.

The other rune knight cleared his throat and spoke as if giving an official report. "She was arrested for the destruction of public and privet property. In total she destroyed five buildings, two streets, eight food stands, three water towers, and traumatized several small children." Minato turned to the red head with wide eyes.

"It's not my fault! It was the only way to finish my job!" She defended.

"You were hired to catch a cat." One rune knight deadpanned.

"You have no idea what Tora is like." She said with a shiver.

One of the knights quickly tied her up and dragged her away kicking and screaming (Literally) while the other one stayed behind to thank Jiraya for his help. Before the man left to catch up with his partner Minato asked one last question. "What did you say her name was again?"

"She's Kushina Uzumaki of Fairytail."

* * *

DONE!

This took me a while and I'm glad I finally finished. You guys apparently like this so I'll try to keep wrighting for as long as I can.

Special thanks to a guest who reviewed on my first chapter for the idea about leaf magic. I was thinking about giving it to Iruka when he enters the story but gave it to Artrem, my first oc, instead since I felt it fit better.

Speaking of Artrem I wanna know how you guys felt about her. I thought up the character when I saw Erza's early concept art on the fairytail wiki when I was looking up the name of Rosemart village. I was originally going to make her the drill instructor for when Naruto undergoes basic training to become a rune knight, but decided to make her the villain when I decided to make Naruto meet one of the main villains of the story in the forest. Her drive for battle is similar to that of Kenpachi in Bleach. Also I already thought up her backstory and why she's so focused on gaining power so you don't have to worry about a character who is crazy just for the sake of being crazy. I also got her name from Artemis Greek goddess of the hunt. I just shortened the name and added an r. Eru is the name of the character Erza was based off of.

I plan on making Kyu Naruto's version of Happy. But rather than just flying around she helps fight

I was originally going to make this chapter end when Naruto left the forest but I felt that it was long enough as it is and I succeeded in getting to the beginning of Naruto's magic training which I'm happy with.

I'm also going to create two polls on my profile so please take the time to answer them. My pole questions are: 1.)would you rather I PM my response to reviews or write my response in the next chapter. 2.)Who had it worse in this story Erza who was trapped as a slave but with friends, or Naruto who was completely alone but in a better environment.

I would also like to get a beta reader sometime though I'm not sure on what they do exactly. If anyone's interested in the job let me know.

I could also use a good cover image if any of my readers are interested in drawing something.

Next time I will answer such questions as:

Why did Artrem decide not to attack during the two days Naruto was unconscious?

Why did Kurama run away when he's Kurama?

What does divine light magic do?

What was Kyu doing in the forest when their was a bloodthirsty women on the loose?

and more.

so see you guys next time don't forget to review.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys guess what. I still don't own any manga or anime. Crazy right?**

Sorry for the wait everyone but I'm back and so is this story. I wanted to finish this like two weeks ago but I kinda got distracted and ended up marathoning Hunter X Hunter. I tried to write a few times after that but I lost my inspiration for this chapter however after imaging like 8 epic scenarios for this story I've decided to lock myself in my room until this was done. Now to answer some reviews.

**Pain of the immortals: **You bring up a good point. I wanted to keep the Erza point of view to a minimum since I wasn't sure what I could add to the story that hasn't already been done, but I've done some brainstorming and came up with a few good scenes. I'm not going to have Erza's pov in this chapter but next chapter will be completly dedicated to her first year in the tower. I'm actually kind of excited to write it now.

**Guest: **Good guess but no. In this story the great beasts aren't demons. I'll explain their origin later.

**GuestWithIdeas: **I wish you luck in your job hunt. I hope you can still find the time to read this story since you're one of my best reviewers. Is light magic really that common? I had only read one story where Naruto used light magic and it was combined with fire. Or were you talking about lightning magic cause I've seen like three stories where that's what Naruto uses. Thanks for the idea about their reunion but I'm probably not going to use it because I've had my own idea for the reunion for a long time now plus I haven't seen lion king since I was like five so I only remember that scene as a Kingdom Hearts cutscene. You'll have to read to learn about Rob and Kyu. Next chapter will be in Erza's point of view. Thanks for all your support.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Birth of a Light Mage**

"Divine Light Magic? That sounds awesome!" The blond exclaimed much to Kurama's amusement. "What does it do? Is it powerful?" He questioned excitedly.

Kurama chuckled at the blond boy's excitement. "You can read about the magic yourself." Naruto reached for the book on the floor but Kurama quickly snatched it up with his tail. "After you access your magic energy." The fox continued while Naruto pouted. "As for you," Kurama spoke turning to the smaller fox trying to sneak away, "don't think you're off the hook for disobeying my orders. I explicitly told you to stay out of the forest while that human was here."

Kyu shrunk under her fathers scolding. "But I wanted to see what a human was like, and you're the one who said only the women was dangerous." She defended weakly.

Kurama narrowed his eyes at Kyu. "I told you not to show yourself to anyone regardless of whether they're a threat or not."

"But-" Kyu began before she was cut off.

"I don't want to hear it. This was one of the dumbest things you have ever done. If I was even a moment later you might've wound up dead." Kyu continued to shrink as her father's lecture went on. "Honestly why couldn't you be more like Shuichi?" He finished with a sigh.

Kyu stopped backing away for a moment when she heard Kurama's last remark. "Because he's a goody two shoes!" She shouted but Kurama just gave her blank stare.

"Exactly my point." He dead panned.

"Daddy!" Kyu squealed.

Naruto couldn't help but snicker at the exchange. Kurama's eyes shifted to Naruto, who kept quiet when he saw the annoyance behind them. Once Naruto was quiet the fox addressed his daughter once more. "Kyu you're reckless actions have put not only yourself and Naruto in danger but the entire tribe as well. I will decide your punishment later for now return home, your mother would like to speak with you." Kyu looked like she wanted to protest but in the end she left quietly with a sad look on her face.

Once she was gone Naruto decided to speak up. "If I may ask how did Kyu endanger the tribe?"

Kurama studied the boy for a moment before he decide to respond. "Because Kyu left our territory, that women found her and I had to step in. Despite my best attempts to lose her in the forest she was always able to stay a few meters behind me. I was only able to lose her when I entered my tribes territory." Upon seeing the blond's confusion Kurama elaborated. "The Fox tribe territory extends for a three mile in every direction from it's center. I've had many magic spells cast along the border of our territory that distorts space for those non-native to the forest. If that woman tries to enter she'll come out at the other end of the border. You were only able to enter because I allowed you to."

Naruto let out a deep breath he wasn't aware he was holding. "So she can't find us?"

Kurama shook his head and Naruto visibly tensed. "It appears she has already discovered the trick behind our border she just lacks a way to enter."

"You're strong right? Can't you just beat her?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Kurama seemed to think about it before he gave his answer. "In most situations I could probably win with relative ease, but she has a huge advantage at the moment. Do you remember what her magic was?"

Naruto tried to recall what the woman had done during their meeting. "She uses leaf magic right?"

The orange fox gave a slight nod. "Yes it appears she can take complete control of the leafs around her. Now think about where we are." Naruto rubbed his chin in thought as he tried to think about how the forest was relevant to their discussion and paled when he realized the answer. "I see you figured it out. There are countless leafs in this forest for her to control. Fighting her here would be like trying to fight Shukaku in a desert."

Naruto looked confused at that. "Shukaku?"

The fox gave a dismissing wave of his paw. "He's an old... friend of mine. The point is that I can't be reckless when I fight her and nobody can cross the border until I chase her off."

"So you're worried that she will hurt someone in your tribe?"

"Exactly." Kurama confirmed.

An awkward silence was present as neither fox nor human attempted to begin a conversation again. Naruto began squirming in his seat as the silence became too much for him. "Can we begin my training now?"

Kurama regarded the boy for a moment before he spoke. "No you need to rest after losing that much blood."

Naruto felt like protesting but angering the animal before him would probably be a bad idea, so the boy remained quiet. Before another awkward silence was established Kurama spoke up. "Tell me your story."

"What?" Naruto asked slightly startled.

"You're going to be staying here for a few months so I would like to here who you are and why you ended up in this forest." Kurama explained as he settled into a more comfortable position.

Letting out a large sigh Naruto began his story.

**Outside the Fox tribe's territory**

Artrem waited patiently under a tree close to where she lost track of her prey. It had been a frustrating turn of events to say the least. After finally finding the legendary beast, Artrem was denied her battle when the fox ran off with the key to Minato's anger. She had chased after the beast in hopes of cutting him off while Tibarn tracked him from the air. The chase had lasted for about thirty minutes before she lost track of the fox when he ran past a tree that blocked her view. At first Artrem attempted to pick up a trail but it appeared as if his foot prints just stopped. Artrem was about to run off in a random direction in hopes that she would find the beast when Tibarn landed before her.

The bird felt the air flow slightly differently where Kurama disappeared. It took a few minutes but the hunter realized that the beast must be using some kind of spacial distortion magic to hide himself.

Artrem refused to back down and chose to wait until the fox revealed himself, no matter how long it took.

**The next day**

"WAKE UP!"

That was all the warning Naruto got before something slammed down on his undefended stomach. Quickly sitting up, Naruto began gasping for air and clutching his stomach.

"Now that you're up let's get started." A calm voice spoke.

Naruto turned to the source of the voice and found Kurama siting there with a raised paw and barely restrained smirk.

"Are you going to do that every morning?" An irritated Naruto asked.

"I wouldn't have to if you woke up on time." The fox spoke amused at the blond.

Naruto mumbled a few insults to Kurama under his breath but followed him out of the hollowed out tree nonetheless. Once Naruto exited the tree he froze.

"Hey Kurama?" Naruto asked with a slight twitch in his eye.

"Yeah?"

"What time is it?" The blond asked staring up at the dark sky currently void of the sun.

"It's morning." The fox replied confused as to what the problem was.

"Then where's the sun?" Naruto asked calmly.

Kurama just stared at the boy with a raised eye. "It won't be out for another couple of hours."

"WHY ARE WE UP SO EARLY?!" Naruto yelled unable to surpress his irritation.

Awareness dawned on the large fox. "Oh that's right I forgot how late you humans tend to sleep." The young blond just stared at the fox with irritation evident in his eyes. "You'll just have to adjust to our schedule." The fox said as he began walking away with an annoyed blond close behind.

As they walked Naruto took note of his environment. At first look it looked just like the rest of the forest, but once Naruto took a closer look he saw that the area had quite a few differences. The trees were much thicker here than they were everywhere else. Each tree appeared to be hollowed out and used as shelter for the other foxes. The vegetation here had a higher quantity of assorted fruit and berries. Unorganized trails that went off in every direction were formed from constant use by the wild life.

Every now and then Naruto would spot a fox walking around the area. Occasionally they would be carrying a small animal they had caught in their mouths and sometimes their would be a young kit following around his or her parent. Watching the foxes go about their business made Naruto long for his own village, but the boy quickly pushed those thoughts aside. Naruto only had six months to learn from Kurama and crying about the past wouldn't get him anywhere.

In order to distract himself from the depressing thought Naruto focused on observing the foxes themselves and noticed a few strange things. The foxes in the village were much larger than he previously thought foxes should be. They each walked with purpose and were clearly intelligent. Unlike ordinary foxes, Kurama's tribe had hand like claws rather than paws. All off these observations confused Naruto for a while but he just accepted it in the end. After all compared to talking a few aesthetic differences were nothing.

Naruto continued to take in his surroundings until he almost walked into Kurama who had stopped in his tracks. "We're here." Kurama said to the blond beside him.

Naruto looked forward and saw that they were in front of another hollowed tree similar to the one he had been sleeping in except that this one was a little smaller. Before any questions could be asked Kurama had already made his way into the opening. Seeing that he was now alone Naruto hastily followed the fox's example and entered the tree.

As soon as the blond stepped inside he had to suppress a yelp when his foot slid forward and almost made him fall. Luckily Naruto managed to grab onto the entrance of the tree to keep himself up right. Before the boy tried to enter again he took the time to look down and saw that the floor went into a steep downward slop into darkness. Naruto found himself hesitating for a second but quickly swallowed his fear and began to slowly make his way down the slope.

By the time the ground leveled out Naruto had a hard time seeing his hand two inches from his face. Seeing that their was no other direction for him to go, Naruto began walking forwards. It was clear to the blond that the tree hid the entrance to some kind of underground tunnel. Naruto reached out and felt the wall as he continued forwards into the cave. Judging by what he felt Naruto could tell that the wall was made up of moist dirt held together by tree roots. Naruto removed his hand and brushed the dirt off it before he focused on moving forwards.

As the tunnel stretched on Naruto began to wonder how long he had been in here. It had probably only been a few minuets but it felt like hours to the boy. After what he believed to be half an hour later, a small speck of light could be seen. Motivated by the idea he was close to the end, he began sprinting towards his goal. Little by little the light grew bigger until Naruto burst out the exit into fresh air.

Once he was out of the cave Naruto took a moment to catch his breath and take in the surroundings. The boy was stunned at the sight before him. The area was a clearing surrounded on all sides by 200 ft tall vertical cliffs. On the opposite side of the clearing a waterfall was continuously crashing down on a large boulder. The water pooled around the rock and went off in two separate streams each flowing alongside the edge of the cliff. The ground around the waterfall and streams were rocky and barren of grass, but the middle of the clearing was overrun by tall grass that went up to Naruto's knees. About five or six tress were located around the area in no particular pattern. The clearing was in a circular shape that was about 300 ft from edge to edge.

**(300 ft is the size of a foot ball field if you want to put that size into perspective.)**

Naruto looked around himself in wonder and began making his way to the middle of the area. The boy was brought out of his amazement a moment later.

"Bout time you got here." A gruff voice spoke out. Naruto almost jumped when he heard the voice but held himself back and turned towards the source of the noise. The fox known as Kurama slowly got up from where he laid in the grass and began lumbering towards the blond. When he was about five feet from Naruto the fox shook off the grass stuck in his coat and sat down.

The boy followed the animal's example and sat down as well. "You could've waited for me." The blond mumbled.

"I wanted you to walk through the cave yourself." The fox said simply.

"Yeah right I bet you just wanted to ditch me and hoped that I wouldn't follow you through that cave." Naruto said accusingly.

Kurama just shook his head at the boy. "I was being serious. Learning magic is a lot like that cave you can move forwards or backwards, learn magic or don't. There is no in between. Now that you have decided to learn from me there is no going back. I will not allow it."

"What are you trying to say?" Naruto asked apprehensively.

"I'm saying that you have six months to learn magic. At the end of that time you will either walk out of here a mage or I'll kill you and carry out your corpse." Naruto didn't have to ask if Kurama was serious or not, he could tell by the fox's tone that his life was really on the line.

The threat hung in the air between the two. Naruto wasn't sure what to say, after all he had just recently regained his will to live and dying didn't have the same appeal it once did to the boy. He didn't want to die but he wasn't backing down either. "I understand. I don't plan on dying so I'll just learn everything you have to teach me." Naruto was smirking at the end despite the small amount of fear that remained in his heart. In fact the boy was actually becoming more excited than he already was.

The fox returned his smirk. "Lets see how well you live up to those words brat." Kurama's smirk grew a little as Naruto became enraged at what the fox had just called him, but before the blond could begin shouting his stomach began to growl rather loudly.

"You wouldn't happen to have any food around here would you? I haven't had any breakfast yet." The blond asked sheepishly and began scratching the back of his head.

**Several minutes later**

Naruto was chowing down on a breakfast consisting of some fruit and what Naruto assumed to be a squirrel. Apparently Kurama had foreseen Naruto's hunger and had arranged for some of the other foxes to deliver food to them. Naruto had readily accepted the meal and proceeded to dig into it. Once Naruto's food was gone Kurama began his lesson.

"Before we begin I need to know what you know about magic." The fox began.

"Alright let me think for a moment." Naruto said as he tried to remember everything he knew about the subject. Once he was sure he remembered everything he began his explanation. "Magic is the ability to use cool techniques that most people can't do to do almost anything they want."

Kurama couldn't help but sweat drop at the child before him. "Is that really all you know?"

"It's not my fault! Dad wouldn't teach me, and it's not like anyone else in my village knew magic." Naruto said with a pout.

The fox just sighed at the blond's ignorance of magic and began his lecture. "In this world an energy source known as ethernano exists in the atmosphere. Ethernano by itself serves little purpose in the daily life of most people. However every living creature has an organ known as origin within them. The origin is located next to the heart and has a system of veins and arteries closely intertwined with the circulatory system. As humans and animals go about their daily life their body absorbs the ethernano in the air and transports it to their origins where it's stored for future use.

"Magic is the ability to utilize the energy stored in your origin to perform feats that are impossible otherwise. These feats could be anything from starting a fire to bending space and time." Before Kurama could continue Naruto raised a hand.

When Kurama gave a nod of acknowledgement Naruto asked his question. "You once said that I had an affinity for that light magic. But why would my magic be any different from somebody else when the ethernano comes from the same place?"

Kurama seemed a bit relieved that it wasn't something stupid so he answered the question. "Good observation but I was getting to that. Anyways when magic circulates through your body it becomes connected to your spirit. This bond changes the form of ethernano slightly making some magics easier to learn than others. However this bond goes much further than just what techniques are and are not easy to learn. Magic becomes a reflection of your spirit and will. If you have little resolve than your magic will be less potent. If you have a wicked soul than your magic becomes dark and twisted. Do you understand?"

"Yeah I got it!" Naruto shouted excitedly. "If I have a strong will then I'll be unbeatable right?"

Kurama sweat dropped at the boy's oversimplification of the subject. "Something like that."

Naruto quickly stood up shaking from excitement of finally learning magic now that the lecture was over. "Now what do I do? How do I make my magic come out?"

Kurama raised his claw to signal Naruto into calming down. Once the blond was quiet the fox began his instruction. "There are three ways in which most people access their magic. The first way is for someone to be born with an inherent talent for magic. If that's the case they can use it without training. The second method is to be put under great stress and danger. You'll be using the third method, meditation. Go over to that waterfall and focus on finding the magic energy within you." When he was done Kurama stood up and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Naruto shouted to stop his mentor from Leaving "Can't you just use that second method it sounds like it'll be faster."

Kurama found himself irritated at being questioned like that but decided to humor the child. "There are three reasons why we won't be using the the second method. The second method may be useful in learning magic quickly but these mages have less of an understanding of magic since they first used their magic instinctively and will have to study the basics later on. The second reason is that the method doesn't always work and it could wind up being a waste of time. My final reason is that you already went through that stress when you lost your home and you're still not mage." Naruto was a bit taken back by the irritated tone and slight glare from the fox. "Now go do what I told you to."

Naruto remained where he was for a moment in silence thinking about what Kurama just said. His home was destroyed right in front of him. There was no reason why he couldn't unlock his magic right there and then. So why didn't he? Could he have saved the village with magic? Naruto's thoughts continued to become darker until he was snapped out of them by a deep voice.

"Are you just going to stand there or get to work?" Kurama growled out even more irritated.

"U-uh yeah right away." Was the hasty reply Naruto gave before jogging to the water fall. As he approached the sound of water crashing down on stone became louder and louder. Once Naruto was a few feet away from the waterfall he began to see just how hard the water was coming down. Mustering up his courage, Naruto stuck his right hand under the waterfall and felt as if the water was tearing the flesh off his arm. With a yelp Naruto removed his arm from the water and took a few steps in Kurama's direction. "You expect me to sit under this?!"

Kurama just lazily waved his hand from where he laid in the grass. "If you can't even sit under that than you're not worth teaching. Even Kyu meditated here."

"Kyu knows magic?! How old is she?!" The boy shouted incredulously.

"My tribe ages differently from humans so I don't know how to describe her age to you. If you pressed me I'd say her mentality would be similar to that of a seven year old. As for magic she only knows a little." Kurama explained.

Despite the fox's last statement Naruto couldn't help but feel outdone by a fox that didn't even come up to his knee. The boy turned back to the waterfall nervously. Kurama made this sound simple but the boy couldn't get the image of his broken body out of his head. Naruto carefully made his way through the ankle deep water towards the boulder and the waterfall crashing atop it. Once he reached the rocks edge he saw that the falls didn't hit the rock a few inches from the edge. Deciding to just go for it Naruto attempted to jump atop the rock and under the waterfall. As soon as the water hit Naruto's back the boy was brought down to his hands and knees from the water's force. The struggle between Naruto and the water continued for about thirty seconds until the boy's arms gave out and he laid face first atop the boulder.

The water continued to pound onto the young blond's back as he could barely think through the pain of being crushed. Somewhere in the back of his mind Naruto attempted to find the magic he was told about but in the end he felt nothing. Eventually Naruto's will gave out and he fell into the sweet embrace of darkness.

**With Kurama**

Once Naruto fell unconscious the large fox got up and made his way to the boy. When he was close enough his furry tail went forward and wrapped around Naruto. Kurama turned his back to the boulder and moved towards the patch of grass with Naruto still in his grasp. The fox set the boy on the tall grass and took in his appearance. Naruto's once tan skin was now pink from staying under the water for too long, a bruise was developing on his face since his head hit the rock when his arms gave out, and his already damaged shirt was now beyond repair. Kurama's examination of Naruto was interrupted when he heard someone approach from behind.

"Your late Cheria." Kurama spoke to the fox behind him. He didn't have to look to know who had entered the clearing. After all she was supposed to be there several minuets before hand.

"Forgive me Kurama but Kyu tried to follow me so I got Shuichi to watch her." The fox moved to stand beside Kurama and get her own look at the boy. "How long did he last under the waterfall before losing consciousness?"

Kurama turned his head slightly to get a better look at Cheria, who was slightly smaller than himself. She had dark red fur covering her body except for around her claws and the end of her tail and ears where it was black. Cheria also had the same crimson eyes with vertical slits that all the foxes had in common. Taking his eyes off the vixen beside him Kurama voiced his answer. "He lasted about five minutes under the water. The same amount of time as Kyu and Shuichi on their first attempt."

"Does that mean he has a lot of potential?" As she asked the question her paw moved down and rested on Naruto's chest a moment later the boy was enveloped in a green aura and his raw skin returned to it's normal color.

"I need to watch him a little longer to be sure but he has some psychological issues that need to be dealt with." The fox replied casually. Cheria gave a nod of acknowledgement as she continued to heal the boy.

"Do you think he's one of the nine that sage told you about?" Cheria asked seriously. There was a moment of dead silence between the two before Kurama answered.

"I'm all but sure." He said simply. Upon seeing the questioning look the crimson fox gave him he decided to elaborate. "I've recently gotten word from Shukaku that he took in his own apprentice. Now that I'm teaching Naruto all nine great beasts have living disciples which was the biggest sign of the prophesy. Whatever it was Hagoromo foresaw, it's going to happen soon." By the time Kurama finished his explanation Naruto was all healed up and beginning to stir. Kurama raised his paw and cleared his voice.

"WAKE UP!" The fox roared before slamming his paw down on Naruto's stomach prompting a giggle from Cheria and grunts of pain from the boy.

"Will you stop doing that?" Naruto begged/groaned.

"Not a chance." Kurama said seriously.

"Stupid fox." The boy grumbled before noticing Cheria. "Uh who is this?" Naruto asked rudely.

"This is Cheria my mate. She will be helping with your training." Kurama explained resisting the urge to smack Naruto for his rudeness.

"Really?" Naruto asked eagerly, believing that the more people helping the better.

"Yes it's no problem." Cheria said cheerfully with a warm smile.

"Thanks!" Naruto shouted happily. "How will you help? Can you explain this meditating thing to me? Cause it makes no sense." Cheria was about to respond but Kurama spoke first.

"Let me explain how this training will go. I'm going to tell you to do something, and you're going to do it until your body breaks. When it does break Cheria will heal it and we will restart the process." Kurama explained with a glint in his eye causing Naruto to pale. The boy looked towards Cheria for any sign of help but found none and almost broke down crying. "Now that you understand the situation get back under the waterfall."

**One month later**

Kurama watched impassively as Naruto sat under the waterfall with his head down. After a month of nonstop attempts to meditate under the waterfall Naruto had finally grown strong enough to sit upon the rock for long periods of time.

It had been slow at first since Naruto got the same result every time he made an attempt. He would fall down on his hands and knees until they eventually gave out. He was then forced to lie face first on the rock until the pounding water forced him into unconsciousness. As time went on he could stay on his knees longer and retain conciousness for greater periods of time. By the second week Naruto could remain standing for about two minutes before he was forced on his knees. By that point he no longer fell unconscious under the water and didn't need Kurama's help to get out. Now that it had been a full month the water no longer bothered him in the slightest.

During the month Kurama checked in with Naruto every afternoon to see if he made any progress. The rest of the fox's time was spent leading his clan. Cheria rotated with another fox advanced in medical magic everyday to supervise Naruto's training.

Kurama's gaze shifted towards his daughter who was off to side trying to fight off boredom. During the month Kyu had snuck away from her watchers and tracked down Naruto hoping for a chance to play with her new friend. She had been sorely disappointed to find out Naruto was undergoing the same training her father had forced her to do a few months prior to her meeting with the boy. All he seemed to do was meditate and rarely had the time to play or speak with her. Despite how boring it was to wait around while Naruto sat under the water, she still came everyday simply because she had nothing else to do. They talked for a few minutes before Naruto made another attempt to meditate but that was the most they ever got to do for fun.

The sun was about to go down for the day and Naruto appeared to be no closer in accessing his magic. Kurama got up and was about to call an end to the day's training but froze in place when he got a good look at the boy. There was faint aura surrounding the boy. It was faint but Kurama could definitely make out a golden glow covering the blond. Kurama smirked at the training's result.

"Alright kid you can come out now." Kurama shouted out towards the blond.

The aura disappeared from around Naruto as he stood up and jumped out of the waterfall to land next to the large fox. Cheria and Kyu heard the large fox and made their way to the two males.

"Hey Kurama I felt something strange right before you called me. Do you know what it was?" Naruto asked the fox before him.

Cheria gained a small smile on her face and Kyu looked a little hopeful. "Did it feel like a warm energy spreading throughout your body?" Kurama asked. Naruto nodded in confirmation and Kurama's smirk grew larger. "Congratulations kid you just accessed your magic energy."

Naruto stared at Kurama for a moment in disbelief before his face broke out in a full-blown grin. "Yes! I did it! I finally used my magic!" The boy continued to cheer, but Kurama decided to knock him down a peg.

"And it only took you twice as long as most people." Kurama added in while Naruto continued to celebrate.

The blond froze in place and turned towards the fox. "What?" He asked in the hopes he heard wrong.

"Most people access their magic after two weeks of meditation while you needed a full month." The fox taunted while Kyu broke out in laughter over the look on Naruto's face.

The blond turned his back to the three foxes and a cloud of depression hung over his head. "I suck don't I?" He asked to no one particular.

Kurama chuckled at the boy and Kyu continued her full-blown laughter. They were both silenced when Cheria had enough and lightly swatted them both with her tail. "Stop messing with him and explain yourself." The vixen scolded.

Kurama grumbled to himself but obeyed his mate nonetheless. "You actually did a great job kid." The fox said to the blond. Naruto turned towards the fox in confusion so Kurama continued speaking. "The reason you needed more time was because I made your meditation more difficult than an ordinary person's."

"What do you mean?"

"When a mage meditates to find their magic they usually do it in an empty room with little to no sound. I made your training harder by forcing you to do your meditation under a waterfall most people couldn't even stand under." Kurama would've continued but Naruto interrupted him.

"Are you saying that you sabotaged my training?!" Naruto asked angrily.

The fox sighed and pointed towards a tree with his claw. "Before I explain go over their and punch that tree as hard as you can."

Naruto glared at the fox and was about to begin shouting but he saw Cheria give him a subtle signal to do as he was told. Naruto trudged towards the tree muttering insults to Kurama under his breath. When he got to the tree the boy turned towards the three foxes that were watching him. Cheria made a 'go on' gesture with her paws and the boy turned to face the tree. Naruto took a deep breath and brought his fist back. With a yell Naruto threw his fist forwards into the tree with all his strength.

Pain shot through Naruto's hand and he immediately regretted the punch. The boy shot a glare at the foxes while he held his hand protectively against his stomach. Kyu was rolling around in laughter, Kurama was chuckling lightly, and Cheria was trying her best to resist giggling. Keyword trying.

"I hate all of you." The boy muttered as the laughter died down.

"Sorry about that," Cheria apologized, "but your reaction was priceless." Naruto continued glaring at the foxes until Kurama spoke up.

"Look at the spot you hit it." The fox ordered.

Naruto reluctantly turned from the animals and felt his eyes widen when he saw the tree. The bark had deep cracks around the area his fist made contact. "How did I do that?" The boy asked in disbelief.

"Because you constantly pit yourself against something stronger than you are, your body began to adapt and became stronger in turn. A month ago you were as strong as every other boy your age. Now you have the strength to take down a vulcan." Kurama explained.

Naruto stared at his fist in wonder before a thought crossed his mind. "I'm not complaining or anything but what exactly does this have to do with magic?"

Kurama closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "Will you ever run out of questions?" He asked in exasperation.

"You're supposed to be my teacher so teach me!" Naruto shouted angrily.

"Alright let me explain." Everyone turned their attention on Cheria. "There are beleved to be two different types of energy in a person, spiritual and physical. Spiritual energy is a person's magical power while physical energy is defined as your physical strength. The two energies are occasionally referred to as yin and yang. Where yin is physical and yang is spiritual. When the two energies combine they each make the other stronger. Magic is stronger in a healthy body and your strength is increased by the presence of magic. Do you understand?" Cheria finished her lecture with a smile.

'She's enjoying this.' Kurama noted with a small smirk.

"I think so." Naruto said scratching the back of his head.

"Good!" Cheria chirped happily. "Now before we do anything else you need to decrease the amount of time it takes to access your magic. Go back to meditating untill you can bring out your magic instantly." Naruto groaned as turned towards the bolder he sat on for the past month

"You do remember that I'm supposed to be the one to teach him right?" Kurama asked as the boy made his way back to the waterfall with Kyu close behind.

"But it's fun teaching him." Cheria said with a slight pout.

"You did this with Shuichi and Kyu as well." The male pointed out.

"Fine but what were you planing to have Naruto do?" She asked with a slight smirk.

"... meditate more." Kurama admitted to Cheria's growing smirk.

**Two weeks later**

The past two weeks were much easier for Naruto than the first month had been. It had only taken Naruto a few days to become capable of summoning magic whenever he wanted to. After that Naruto had been instructed to practice channeling his magic to specific parts of his body. Cheria would test him by shouting out a random body part. If he took to long to channel magic to that area the red fox would hit him with her tail hard enough to send him flying back several feet. Occasionally the blow would dislocate a shoulder or break a bone but he was healed shortly afterwards and forced to continue.

Naruto was convinced that he would be a bloody mess if it wasn't for the waterfall training. He was probably right.

Kyu had become tired of just lying around until Naruto was free from his training, so she began doing the test alongside Naruto and called it a game. The blond boy had become frustrated at the fact that Kyu was always faster than him and never got hit. He was forced to forget his frustrations since it would distract him and lead to a blow from Cheria. The training continued with different exercises to help Naruto gain better control of his magic. After two weeks had passed Kurama and Cheria each had a present for the boy to celebrate his growth.

"Here you go Naruto." Cheria chirped as her tail handed Naruto something fuzzy and soft. Naruto realised that it was some type of folded up fabric. The boy unraveled it and saw that it was a pure white cape. "Fall is coming soon so I had this made to keep you warm since you lost your shirt. The material making it up are the rabbit hides we gathered from hunting so it should last for a very long time."

"Thank you." Naruto said with a smile before turning towards Kurama.

The male fox grumbled a, "here you go" before dropping a book in front of the boy. Naruto slowly picked up the book and read the title.

Divine light magic

Naruto's face broke out in a huge grin. "Does this mean I can learn it now?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Yeah you completed all the necessary exercises so you can begin with light magic." Kurama grumbled as he prepared himself for the inevitable cheers of joy he was sure Naruto was about to release.

He wasn't disappointed as the boy cheered to the sky's in utter glee."FINALY!" Naruto held the book firmly in his hand and stared at it for a moment before he made a move to open it.

The words in the book were written in elegant letters which could only mean that it was hand written by someone. Naruto found it hard to make out some of the letters due to the refined handwriting but vowed to read the entire thing no matter what. Naruto put his whole attention on the first page of the book, ignoring Kyu who was trying to peak from behind his shoulder.

**Divine Light Magic**

**By Micaiah Shiraga**

**Chapter 1: The Nature of Divine Light**

**If you are reading this you have been deemed worthy of inheriting my magic by the keeper of this text. My name is Micaiah Shiraga the first light sage and creator of Divine Light magic. I will not go in-depth of who I am or why my magic is being passed down indirectly through text. But I will tell you what Divine Light is and the history behind it.**

**When I was growing up the people of my village were often oppressed by soldiers of a neighboring country who had successfully invaded my own. When I discovered that I had a natural gift for magic I trained relentlessly for the power to save my people. As I grew in magic and maturity I realized something I had previously overlooked. The soldiers who had invaded us were just ordinary people who become arrogant with their power.**

**I wanted the strength to defeat them and wipe out injustice from the world, but I had begun to fear of what would happen should I become obsessed with power as well. My solution was both Divine Light's greatest strength and weakness.**

**I made it so that my magic would only work if one with a good heart casts it. Should one with a wicked heart make any attempt to cast a spell from this book he will find that the attempt is futile. **

**That fail safe guaranteed that if I should ever turn from my original goal, that I would become as powerless as everyone else. Once the fail safe was in place I found that my magic had increased in strength now that it was tied to my heart. The connection appears to be similar to that of a dragon slayer and his emotions.**

**I named my magic Divine Light after the purpose it had and still does serve. To be a power for the innocent against corruption. As the scion of my magic I implore you to use it to use it against evil where ever it stands. Should you agree to my terms my magic will be yours.**

Naruto looked up from the book with wide eyes. He knew that Divine Light magic would be amazing just from the name, but he didn't expect it to come with such a responsibility.

"If you can't do it leave." Kurama said bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. "If you can't vow to use this magic responsibly than you're free to leave."

Naruto looked back down towards the book. Could he really dedicate his life to stand against evil? Did he even want to? Suddenly the image of Rosemary in ruins entered Naruto's mind. He picture the faces of his friends and family. He remembered how he lost each of them. And he remembered the masked faces of the ones responsible. If that was what Divine Light was meant to be used against than Naruto had his answer.

With newfound resolve in his eyes Naruto turned to the next page in the book unaware of the smirk evident on Kurama's face.

**Chapter 2: The Basics**

**Divine Light magic consists of a wide range of spells which can be used for a variety of purposes. When I became more experienced I had found that I had begun to categorize my spells into one of two groups. **

**First there was violent shine. These were the spells I primarily used for attack. The violent shine spells could be anything from a beam of light to coating my body in compressed energy to gain the same affect as a suit of armor.**

**I labeled the other group soft glow. These were spells that could be used outside of battle as well as within it. Such spells include a technique that restrains a person and one that emits a violent flash to blind an enemy. I particularly enjoyed a technique where I bent rays of light to appear further to the right or left than I actually was.**

**Not all of my spell are written in this book for a few reasons. One of the main ones being that I want to encourage you to make your own spells and style rather than imitating my own. I left some other spells out because they are to dangerous to be used by someone inexperience even if he has good intentions.**

**The spells I have transcribed here each have their own chapter to explain how to perform it as well as it's advantages and disadvantages. But before you can learn any specific spell you must first learn how to channel your raw magic energy into Divine Light magic. To do this you must memorize the magical array on the next page. Once you do, focus your magic into a sphere outside your body and picture the circle in your head. Feel the sun's light on your body and imagine that feeling coming from your magic sphere. As you can imagine doing this can be quite difficult at first but I assure you that it will become much easier as time passes.**

Naruto turned the page and found the image that was discussed in the last chapter. The magic array was a large circle with a slightly smaller circle within it. Between the two circles characters from another, long forgotten language circled around. Smooth lines formed elegant designs within the smaller circle.

"That's a magical array often referred to as a magic circle. Each kind of magic has one and it acts as a sort of filter. When you create one your raw magic energy gets converted into whatever's needed for the spell you intend to use. The array will appear every time you cast a spell. When you become more experienced you will only need one for more advanced spells." Kurama lectured.

Naruto gave small nod since he was only half listening while he made sure to get every part of the array memorized. The boy quickly crossed his legs and spaced his hands about six inches apart. A small blue orb of pure ethernano appeared between his open palms. A minute passed and nothing happened. Suddenly a large golden version of the magical array appeared in front of Naruto. The sphere of energy changed into a golden ball emitting a bright light.

Cheria smiled, Kyu cheered, and Kurama smirked. 'So I was right.' The fox thought. 'The boy was made for this magic.'

**End of the six months**

Naruto stood before the family of four foxes next to the boundary line. He wore the rabbit fur cape around his neck to fend off the the cold winter air. Under the cape Naruto was shirtless since it became too torn and tattered during his training to keep. His pants and shoes were still in reflectively good condition but he still had every intention of replacing them whenever he got the chance.

The nine year old was grateful for the past six months he spent in this forest. Between the periods of harsh training Naruto became attached to the animals who had cared for him. Kurama was like a strict teacher who always kept his student's well being in mind. Cheria was similar to a nice aunt who could be scary when she needed to be. Naruto's fear of female red heads now extended to animals. Shuichi, Kyu's older brother, had become a friend to Naruto. They didn't talk often since he helped his dad around the village but he was a polite creature whom Naruto enjoyed talking with. Kyu had quickly become Naruto's obnoxious little sister, even though there was a chance she was the older one.

Naruto wished he could stay longer and spend more time with the foxes but his training time was over and he didn't want to overstay his welcome. "Thank you for everything." Naruto said in complete sincerity.

"Take care of yourself." Cheria said fighting off the urge to cry.

"It was an honor." Shuichi spoke.

"Come back soon!" Kyu shouted while mimicking her mother.

"Before you go I have something I need to ask of you." Everyone's attention turned towards Kurama. "Kyu I have decided on your punishment for disobeying me six months ago." Everyone sweat dropped at how he was bringing this up now. Everyone but Kyu who began sweating bullets. "You will be banished for the next seven years. After that time is up I'll send someone to bring you back." Cheria sighed and closed her eyes since she had already discussed this with him. Naruto looked angry, Kyu appeared to be in denial, and Shuichi was shocked.

"But father-" Shuichi began before he was cut off.

"Silence Shuichi. I have already spoken." Shuichi looked down and Kurama turned to Naruto who still looked pissed. "Naruto I want you to look after Kyu for me."

Naruto's faltered and Kyu perked up a little. "It seems she likes you and I'll feel better if your together."

Naruto didn't like it but he knew that Kurama probably had his reasons for the decision. "Alright I'll do it."

Kurama smiled slightly and his claw move up to his neck and made a grabbing motion in his fur. The limb moved away from his head and extended towards Naruto. "Take this as payment." Naruto reached his hand out and felt an object fall in his open hand. When he looked he saw that it was a necklace with a long hexagonal crystal. "Make sure you always have this on you. It'll be very important one day." Naruto heard the seriousness in his voice and nodded.

"I'll see you all later!" Naruto called over his shoulder as he turned to leave. Kyu ran up behind Naruto and climbed up his cape before resting on his shoulder and getting one last look at her home. After hearing that she gets to spend more time with her friend, Kyu cheered up a little and began looking forwards to the adventures she would have with Naruto. Even if she would be away from home for a while.

**Back with Kurama**

When Naruto and Kyu left Kurama quickly turned around and sprinted towards the other side of the village. As he predicted the food reserves ran dry after six months in lockdown and the forest's other inhabitants were avoiding the area. After a minute of running Kurama stopped in front of a figure sitting cross legged on a large rock. "So you've finally come." Spoke the female.

Kurama was silent as he carefully studied Artrem. When he was done he looked straight at her. "Can we wait 24 hours before we begin?"

"You've kept me waiting half a year. Why should I wait any longer?" She asked curiously.

"Because it's the only way I'll allow it to be a one on one fight." Suddenly the area was surrounded by an army of foxes. Artrem looked around and smirked.

"Are you trying to buy time so that those weakling over there won't get caught up in our fight?" She asked pointing in the direction Naruto went. When Kurama didn't say anything she relaxed and closed her eyes. "Fine I'll wait." Kurama nodded and laid down on his stomach.

Hours passed in silence as no one made a move.

The exact moment it had been 24 hours the army foxes disappeared back into the border. Kurama shot up on his legs and a large magic array formed.** "Holy Beast Cloak!**" Kurama roared as golden energy surrounded the fox like a cloak. Black markings made patterns on the cloak which created eight extra tails behind the beast.

Artrem stood up and the spear appeared in her hands. Hundreds of leaves blew around the women as she shot forward with her spear ready. "Let's have some fun!"

**Two months later**

"I think we're almost there Kyu." Naruto said as he made his way past some trees.

"You said that a week ago! We keep going in circles and it's all your fault!" The young fox whined.

"What about you? You grew up in this forest." Naruto countered.

"I'm not good with directions." The small fox explained with a shrug.

"Hypocrite." The blond muttered.

"Human?" A deep voice spoke behind the pair.

"Not again." Naruto groaned as he turned to face the vulcan behind him. Kyu looked like she was about to pounce but Naruto held up his hand to stop her. "I'll do it."

Naruto stood in place as the ape-like creature charged. When it was within range the vulcan attempted a punch which Naruto quickly ducked under. The ape stumbled forward before coming to a stop. Before it could turn around Naruto channeled some magic energy to his right hand.

**"Holy Ray!"** Naruto shouted as he fired a beam of golden light from his hand towards the vulcan's lower back. The animal cried out in pain as he was carried forward by the attack. Naruto dropped his hand back down to his side and walked past the unconscious vulcan on the floor.

A minute later the pair emerged from the forest and stood at the edge of a large field. In the distance Naruto could make out a city with high walls and a large castle. The boy couldn't resist a smile. After an entire year the boy had finally escaped the forest.

**Omake-4: Just another day in training part 1**

Naruto sat under the tree while he carefully read how to perform one of the spells. When he finished reading the chapter he gently set the book down and stretched out an arm. He focused on channeling some magic into his hand. When he felt the warmth inside his hand he pictured the magic array in his mind and attempted the spell.

He was disappointed in himself when nothing came out. Deciding not to give up yet, the boy ran through the steps in the book to no avail. After trying several more times Naruto decided to take a break and sat down.

"What's wrong?" Cheria asked from where she rested against a tree.

"I can't get this spell to work no mater how hard I try." Naruto growled out.

"Maybe you just suck at magic." Kyu suggested.

"I'm sure that I'm better than you were." Naruto countered.

"If by better you mean better at losing than yes you're better than me." Kyu decided that she was going to get back at Naruto by being as annoyingly immature as possible. After all she came down here every day to play with the boy but he kept neglecting her in favor of training. After the first two weeks of training Kyu swore vengeance for what she perceived as the greatest crime possible: boredom.

Naruto, who was already frustrated with the spell, had enough of the fox and attempted to blast her with the spell he had just attempted. When nothing came out the blond cursed and Kyu laughed.

"Did you try calling out the spell's name?" Cheria asked innocently.

"Huh?" Naruto asked dumbly.

"Shouting out the name of your spell can make the technique much easier. For example: say I give you weapon with a wooden handle and a metal blade. What weapon did I give you?"

"A sword. Right?" Naruto said asking for confirmation.

"Nope I gave you an ax." Cheria announced cheerfully.

"What does that have to do with magic?" He asked even more confused.

"I told you exactly what the weapon was but you mistook it for something else. If I were to just say that I gave you an ax, then there would be no miscommunication between us. The same rules apply to magic. You may know what the spell is and what it looks like, but untill you give it a name your subconscious has a hard time identifying it. Understand?" At the end of her explanation Naruto gained a devious smile.

He slowly pointed his hand towards Kyu with his hair shadowing his eyes. **"Starlight missile"** he said quietly. Suddenly a blast of golden light energy shot from his hand and hit the ground next to Kyu leaving a small six-inch crater.

Kyu slowly looked at the result of Naruto's spell and felt some fear. "H-hey Naruto." She said trying to sound cheerful. "You know I was only joking right?" Kyu's smile wavered from the look Naruto gave her.

**"Starlight-"**

Cheria watched the two children with a smile on her face. She was so happy Kyu found a friend.

* * *

**Author note**

And I'm done. Sorry for the long wait but as previously said before I have just discovered the awesomeness that is Hunter X Hunter although the chimera ant arch is going on a bit longer than I want it to. And I kind of hate Knuckle now for removing his nen ability from that one guy when they were like one minute away from winning.

I have named Shuichi, Cheria, Tibarn, and Micaiah after characters from other media. Shuichi was the Youko Kurama's human name in Yu Yu Hakusho. He'll appear later on in the story. I named Cheria after Cheria Barnes from tales of graces since they are both healers but I just remembered that there is a character in fairy tail named Chelia so I kinda regret it. But not enough to name them something else. Tibarn was named after the king of Hawks in Fire emblem PoR and RD since they're both green birds. Micaiah was named after Micaiah from fire emblem RD since they're both light mages. Shiraga means silver hair... according to google translate. I'll use her character later on. I'm merely using these character's appearance and names so you don't have to worry about this becoming a mass cross over.

I would also like to announce my intentions to write a NarutoXLucy story soon. I have a plot in my head and some awesome magic lined up for that Naruto. Hopefully I'll have a prologue up soon. But I'm worried that I'll end up neglecting TRK like I've been doing with Fox Tail.

I've also got a plot line for an ace attorney fanfic. I've never written a mystery story before so that should be fun.

Sorry if this chapter was a little on the slow side but things should pick up within a couple of chapters once I get passed the beginning of this story.

Next time in the rune knight I will narrate Erza's life in the Tower of Heaven. After that I will do a chapter about the event that lead to Naruto's recruitment by the rune knights. Naruto should become an official rune knight by chapter 7 or 8

Holy Beast Cloak: it's basically Naruto's chakra mode. (Or was it Kyuubi mode?)

Holy Ray: A beam of pure light energy

Starlight Missile: A blast of light magic which explodes upon impact

Be sure to leave a review they are my inspiration and I'll see you next time.


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